The Terran Variable
by Pinoy Gamer
Summary: Darth Sidious' plans to control the galaxy was in motion and even the Jedi Order has been fooled. Soon, the galaxy will bow to the new Emperor...until the Force adds two variables he did not foresee: Anakin Skywalker...and the inheritors of the Mantel - the Reclaimers.
1. Act 1 Part 1

Disclaimer: _I don't own Halo Universe as well as the Star Wars Universe._

Timeline

2553:

\- March: A monument is erected in the Kenyan Savannah near Mount Kilimanjaro to officially mark the end of the Human-Covenant war, and in remembrance of those who gave their lives in the war – including posthumously promoted Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John-117 who is labeled MIA.

\- May: UEG and Covenant Separatist (now called Coalition of Allied Species) sign the Milky Way Treaty on Mount Kilimanjaro to signify helping each other make the universe become a peaceful place

\- June: Operation: Rebuild Earth is launched by UEG to rebuild Earth. UEG also discovers out of the 800 planets they have, only about 90 or so were glassed before the invasion of Earth. UEG (along with the help of the CAS) then launches Operation: Seedling to recolonize all its glassed planets

2554:

\- [CONFIDENTIAL] January: After much deliberation, UEG approves the funding for a second Infinity-class warship (code named Everlasting) right after the success of the first's mission. The Interplanetary Scientific and Engineering Commission theorizes that UNSC Everlasting will be finished by 2560.

\- March: Upon the request of UEG President Ruth Charet and (recently appointed) Defense Secretary Terrace Hood, Thel 'Vadam agrees to donate one CSO-class Supercarriers to help advance the vehicles and equipment of UEG.

\- [CONFIDENTIAL] March: In ISEC's monthly report, it states that the UNSC Everlasting's space faring capabilities will be notch better than the recently upgraded UNSC Infinity by a small margin

\- April: The UEG and the CAS have agreed to allow the Huragok help ISEC in Operation: Back to Standard and Operation Seedling. With this announcement, ISEC theorize that the time to finish both operations will be cut in half.

\- [CONFIDENTIAL] April: In its April report, ISEC states that UNSC Everlasting completion date is now moved around late 2558 thanks to the additional Huragok helping build it.

2555:

\- January: Operation: Back to Standard is launched with the intent of rebuilding the entire UNSC military force back to its pre-war status but with additional upgrades.

\- February: CAS Government (after deciding on a parliamentary-style government headed by a Sangheili) begins trade relations with the UEG. It is discovered that the Unggoy are master builders while the Kig-Yar are expert furniture makers and these businesses are what helps CAS develop and improve its economy. The Covenant armed forces are then reorganized as Armed Forces of the Coalition.

2557

\- January: SPARTAN–IV Program is commissioned but all members come from either Marine Corp or ODST Companies.

\- February: Public Commission of UNSC Infinity. At the same time, UEG grants all its colonies an autonomous status, finally crushing any Insurrectionist Movements.

\- March: First general democratic elections are held.

\- July 21, 2557: After over four years of drifting, UNSC Forward unto Dawn is pulled into the gravitational pull of the Forerunner shield world, Requiem. UNSC Infinity finds Cortana's distress beacon, on the way to Requiem. The First Battle of Requiem begins.

\- July 24, 2557: The Raid on Ivanoff Research Station occurs. The Ur-Didact successfully steals the Composer from the facility and composes everyone, except John-117, in the facility. The New Phoenix Incident occurs causing the city to go into quarantine for eight months.

2558

\- January: Operation: Reach for the Stars is half finished. UEG has terraformed all of the glassed planets but is yet to recolonize them.

\- February 7 – March 3, 2558: The Second battle of Requiem.

\- March: After much deliberation, UEG has decided to centralize all operations of the military after finding out that UNSC services all the divisions of the military. UNSC remains United Nations Space Command with four divisions: UN – Army Division (UNAD), UN – Naval Division (UNND), UN – Air Force Division (UNAFD), and UN – Intelligence and Special Operations Division (UNISOD).

\- May: Astronomers at Mauna Kea Observatories discover that a previously undetected spiral galaxy (named Novus Galaxy) and discovers that it has planets around the edges. The Novus Galaxy is calculated to be about 9,120 light years away from the Milky Way Galaxy's edge.

\- [CONFIDENTIAL] May: UNSC Infinity discovers a long curved metal arms surrounding a set of revolving, gyroscopic rings five-kilometers across Forerunner artifact that is capable of launching vessels to a similar artifact near the outer edge of the Milky Way. Data mined from a nearby Forerunner Research Outpost shows that the artifact is a gateway of sort to the newly discovered Novus Galaxy. A similar artifact is discovered there.

\- June: UEG and CAS launch Operation: Novus Terra with the plan to colonize the planets in Novus Galaxy after a probing team reports of habitable planets. The operation contains three colony ships (rumored to contain Human, Unggoy, and Sangheili species) along with a joint UEG-CAS fleet escort. Thanks to the recently released information about the slingshot device, UEG and CAS plan to use it to a great effect.

\- [CONFIDENTIAL] June: UEG and CAS launch Operation: Reclamation with the plan to seek out what is believed to be a Forerunner signal coming from the outer edges of Novus. Three military converted Phoenix-class colony vessels containing UEG and CAS scientist and equipment are dispatched along with a joint UNSC and the AFC fleet escort.

\- July: Operation: Novus Terra is a success. Three planets are found that can sustain the sent species in the newly-named Aurora System. Proelia (for the Sangheili), Ballou (for the Unggoy), and New Aurora (for the human) are the capitol planets in this system.

\- [CONFIDENTIAL] July: Operation: Reclamation is fully under way. First planet (codenamed New Aurora) is made the headquarters of the Novus Exploration Fleet, considering it is the only planet void of anything Forerunner related. Planets codenamed Ballou and Proelia are found to contain Forerunner structures and are being explored carefully. Data from the Forerunner ruins suggest a prototype version of the slingshot was created but lost due to an explosion.

2560

\- June: UNSC Everlasting is publicly commissioned and is announced to be sent to the Novus Galaxy as UEG's flagship in it. It is to be accompanied by a CAS-class assault carrier named AFC Era of Redemption.

\- July: UEG is about half of its pre-war status while CAS begins to enjoy the fruits of its labors.

However, the story does not begin with the United Earth Government nor with the Coalition of Allied Species. It begins with a military converted Phoenix-class colony vessel floating in space in a galaxy far, far, away…

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 **FROM THE IMAGINATIVE MIND OF PINOY GAMER**

 **IN COLLABORATION WITH [ENTER TEXT HERE PRODUCTIONS]**

 **PRESENTS**

 **THE TERRAN VARIABLE**

Summary: The plan was set, the Father knew that. Its uncaring son, the Dark Side of the Force, has finally found a way to tip the balance in its favor – even though it took millenniums to make. Its Daughter, the positive Light Side of the Force, knew this and tried to counter it by creating a champion to defeat her brother's plan to rule. Father, however, knew it was not enough as it has seen the future – in fact, all of them did but there interpretations were different. The Son saw the future with him at its helm, the Daughter saw her champion finally removing the darkness that encroached into the lives of everyone, and Father…well, the Grey saw lives, bonds, and life in general suffer massively. It needed to act – after all, it was just as appropriate to ensure that the balance of power was kept among the three. Strong in the Force it was, Father found the perfect opportunity – yet knowing fully well the consequence it will bring to the galaxies beyond.

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ACT 1 | Part 1: Unintended Discoveries (September 2560 | 33 BBY)

29 Years, 8 Months, 7 Weeks, 6 Days, 5 Hours, and 4 Seconds.

That was what Serina computed as she stood on the holotable of the desolate bridge of the _UNSC Spirit of Fire._ For nearly 30 years, the _Spirit_ has been floating aimlessly in the vast expanse of the Milky Way Galaxy ever since the…'Treasure Planet' incident. Apparently, the Covenant found a planet full of ancient yet powerful vessels that could wipe humanity in an instance. Thinking quickly, the _Spirit_ had to sacrifice its Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine to destroy the planet that was housing the said vessels. It was a small price for them to pay but it was worth it – they had given humanity more time to stop the Covenant from destroying them in exchange of being forced to drift in space towards home.

Serina sighed before scanning the empty bridge. Every single personnel were sent to the cyro bay to sleep for obvious reasons. The _Spirit_ was nowhere near any UNSC outpost or planet so all they could do was sleep and await rescue from anybody – preferably human. Frankly, Serina thought that everyone onboard deserved it. They've been (to borrow Cutter's words) 'into five years of Hell', so a 30 year beauty rest was more than perfect for them.

"Give me an update, girls! Sights, you first." shouted Serina, her voice echoing throughout the room. Suddenly, two AIs materialized on the holotable and looked at Serina. These two were like a carbon copy of her – only they had different outfits.

Sights, the AI on her left, was wearing a WWII Russian sniper outfit. She held a binocular and replied "We are approximately 2.5 trillion AUs from the 'Treasure Planet', nothing ahead of us yet Serina. Ship's point defense system is a-okay…although its ammo reserves are not enough to survive five waves of Covie attacks. You're next Ace!"

Ace, wearing a fighter plane jumpsuit, rolled her eyes. "Ship's speed at five miles an hour thanks to continuous thruster engine burst every five hours. Fusion Reactors are running smooth."

Serina nodded, having expected it all along. Nothing much had change for the past seven days since the last update since it was a weekly occurrence for Serina to request updates from her clones. "Thanks for the update girls. I'll–"

"Wait, I see something ahead of us!" cut Sights. "Bringing it up now…"

Waving her hand, Sights made a 3D hologram of what she saw, showing an elongated structure. After a few seconds of looking at it, Serina asked "Okay, so what is that?"

The sniper scratched the back of her head, thinking. "I'm not entirely sure. It looks like a gate and the designs are similar to the ones found inside the 'Treasure Planet' but leading to where…your guess is as good as mine."

Nodding, Serina looked at Ace. She had designated Ace as the unofficial AI pilot for the _Spirit_ , giving her full command to direct the ship to where ever they needed to go. "Ace, just skirt around the structure and–"

Suddenly, one of the archways of the structure growled and shot a red beam towards the ship and made scanning motions at it. It happened so fast that none of them manage to react quickly. The scanning and growling lasted for one minute before dying as quick as it happened. No one spoke or moved as all three of them tried to comprehend what happened.

"…Okay, what the hell just happened?" Ace asked to no one in particular.

Serina stared at the structure before coming to a quick decision. "Sights, spin the MAC Drive. Ace, wake everyone up from the cyro bays. I'll go wake the captain personally." she ordered in her best drill sergeant voice before disappearing from the bridge quickly. Reappearing in Cryo Room 3, she stood in front of a pod and willed it to open. As it opened, she uttered four words that made the man inside wake up in a second.

"Captain, something had happened."

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

30 minutes later, the entire crew of Spirit of Fire was now awake and on hand. Members of the 49th Infantry Brigade and 50th Helljumper Battalion grunted as they did post-cryo exercise to get the ice crystals out of their bodies, Engineers checked and scrutinized the vehicles and equipment to see if anything was damaged, and the entire bridge bustled with energy.

Meanwhile, Serina was staring at the _Spirit_ 's resident scientist, who asked "Serina…why are there two versions of you in different outfits?"

Ace glanced at Serina and quipped "You better answer Ellen, Serina. After all, we _did_ come from you."

Rolling her eyes, Serina tried to control her anger at Professor Ellen Anders, the reluctant Office of the Naval Intelligence scientist who was assigned to them. She had been tasked to look for the 'Treasure Planet' that the Covenant had been referring to on the messages ONI intercepted. Of course, her question was warranted, but there was a fucking weird structure in front of the ship – how the hell could she not see that! "Look, we got a weird-looking structure in front of the ship and you want to talk about my clones and I? Fix your priorities first, dammit!"

At the last part, the bridge experienced a massive electronic ripple, causing the crewmembers running and talking about to quiet down. _Shit…_ thought Serina. "Sorry about that…" she said meekly. Everyone just looked at her with confusion before a loud shout brought them back to their senses.

"Back to work boys and girls, let's leave the two eggheads and good ole cap to their business!" shouted Chief Engineer Andrew Prescott as he made his way towards the holotable. Serine mentally thanked the comedic personality of the engineer – and as well as him giving her an excuse to be forgotten.

"Captain Cutter, we've done are scans." the engineer told the captain, handling over a tablet. "Ship's at top condition with a minor damage at the side where we got rammed. However, I suggest that we find ourselves some ammunition soon. We only got 50 sets of missiles per ATAF Turret. Either way, we've got to thank Ace here for her wonderful job of maintaining the ship's engines. Damn, she gave me the report of the ship even before we began the assessment!"

Ace gave Andrew a thumbs-up as Cutter cleared his throat. "Back to the main topic: why did you wake up us again? You said something had happened."

With the wave of Sight's hand, a video feed of the structure up close was presented to them. "I found this after we've finished the weekly status update. We were discussing the similarities between the structures found inside the 'Treasure Planet' with this when it emitted a loud growl and scanned the ship."

Ellen stared at the structure, no doubt trying to decipher it. "Looks like a gateway of some sort." Ellen said after couple of minutes. "Sights…right? Can you give me a 3-D model of this…thing?"

Sights nodded and it was projected on the table. Ellen circled the table for a few more seconds before speaking up. "Look at the five archways leading towards the big structure…that looks similar to the Greek letter Omega. The five archways act like…a train station of sorts – you know, where the train stops to drop of its passengers – but this one just features the skeleton of the station." Ellen pointed towards the separated arcs.

She circled around the table to and pointed at the Ω. "My bet is that this...gateway, for the lack of a better term, is some sort of toll booth. Going where is another matter altogether." She crosses her arms and states "Whatever this is, I don't like it."

"So this is like the one that we went through when the ship entered the weird ass planet?" quipped Andrew, getting a confused look from Ellen. "Sorry, you weren't with us when we entered the 'Planet'. We went through like six to seven rings inside the planet's crust before coming out the inside – or were it outside the curst? You know what, never mind. You get the idea right?"

Ellen nodded and opened her mouth when the ship lurched forward and slowly headed for the structure. Grabbing hold of the table to prevent himself from falling, Cutter looked about and shouted "Status report, now!"

"We're being dragged towards it sir! I don't know how, but the computer's suggesting that the structure is some kind of gravity well!" yelled back one of the technicians.

"All hands brace for impact!" Cutter shouted immediately as the entire ship lurched forward again, slightly hastening its speed towards the structure. Everyone on the bridge immediately strapped themselves to the nearest chair.

"Captain, permission to fire MAC at the structure." Serina asked.

"Denied. Ace, give me an update!" Cutter shouted hurriedly to her temporary AI Pilot, as the real helmsman was forced to sit down.

"We've just align ourselves towards the entrance of the gateway, speed at 30 mph." Ace shouted back, looking at a virtual dashboard she created in front of everyone.

"Great, now the structure wants to eat us! Anybody got salt, 'cause I know we don't taste too good." Serina said sarcastically, earning a nervous laughter from everyone on the bridge.

"Oh boy, you'd think that 29 years is enough to dull her sarcastic comments but _nooo_ , it had to get better!" Ellen groaned while having a faint smile on her lips.

"Hey," replied Serina. "I should say the same thing about you. We got a weird looking structure outside of our ship and you're asking me why I–"

"Passing the first archway at speed of 35 mph!" cut Ace, stopping the two from bickering immediately.

"Wait, how long is the structure?" asked Ellen immediately, eyebrows furrowed.

"Uh…35 kilometers, why?" replied Sights.

Ellen gulped from her seat, her facial expression scared. "Cutter, the structure's going to sling us to somewhere really fast."

Everyone looked at Ellen in confusion when Sights shouted "Passing second archway, speed's at 45 mph people! Shit, there's a portal being created by that thingy-majig!"

Everyone became silent as the ship continued to race towards the Ω and not a single person breathed as everything outside the ship elongated. "Third archway passed, speed at 85 mph! Fourth archway, 110 mph! Brace for impact!" screamed Ace as the ship entered the portal.

For three minutes, everything around the _Spirit_ was elongated before it stopped as quickly as it happened. They just sat there in complete silence until Andrew asked "Alright, what the hell just happened? I thought that was supposed to be a slingshot?"

"It was," answered Ellen, her voice wavering. "We just experienced being shot across space. The question is where?"

Andrew raised his hands up in confusion. "You're telling me that was it?"

Serina huffed. "You of all people should be glad nothing else happened. If something _did_ happen, you'll be the one in charge of fixing it." she said with a smirk.

Andrew stared at her before walking towards the door. "This wasn't part of my job description, Captain. I'll leave it to you guys to solve this shit. I'll be in the Engine room if you need me!"

Cutter cleared his throat after Andrew left and asked "Serina, give me a sitrep."

"Nothing broken, all systems green." Serina listed down. "Sights, what do you have?"

"I'm not entirely sure. We were about 8e+14 miles from the 'Treasure Planet' when I spotted the structure. After passing through it, I got nothing." Sights replied.

"Thought so," Ellen said. "It was a sling shot after all and–"

"Uh...guys," Sights cut, no doubt trying to get everyone's attention.

"–we'll be disoriented to our position because of it." Serina finished.

"So," started Cutter. "We're completely blind now."

"Yup. Damn, I knew we should have just fired–"

"Guys…" Sights said more forcibly.

"–a MAC round at it." Serina said to Cutter, who chuckled.

"It would have exploded Serina," interjected Ellen. "The structure was powering itself. Blow it–"

"GUYS!" shouted Sights, making everyone look at her.

"What?" Serina asked.

"May be we could just ask that ship over there for directions." Sights said, pointing towards the front of the ship, where a few miles from the _Spirit_ 's bridge, a sleek, silvery-colored vessel was facing towards them. Everyone on the bridge just looked at the vessel in confusion, no doubt wondering where it came from.

* * *

 **Up Next:**

 ** _ACT 1 | Part 2: Making New Friends_**

* * *

Character Visualization:

Serina (Halo Wars) as Serina and her Clones

James Cutter (Halo Wars 2) as Captain James Cutter

Ellen Anders (Halo Wars 2) as Dr. Ellen Anders

Kenneth Donnelly (Mass Effect) as Chief Engineer Andrew Prescott

* * *

 ** _UPDATED 02/05/2017_**


	2. Act 1 Part 2

Disclaimer: _I don't own Halo Universe as well as the Star Wars Universe._

 **FROM THE IMAGINATIVE MIND OF PINOY GAMER**

 **IN COLLABORATION WITH [ENTER TEXT HERE PRODUCTIONS]**

 **PRESENTS**

 **THE TERRAN VARIABLE**

Summary: The plan was set, the Father knew that. Its uncaring Son, the Dark Side of the Force, has finally found a way to tip the balance in its favor – even though it took millenniums to make. Its Daughter, the positive Light Side of the Force, knew this and tried to counter it by creating a champion to defeat her brother's plan to rule. Father, however, knew it was not enough as it has seen the future – in fact, all of them did but there interpretations were different. The Son saw the future with him at its helm, the Daughter saw her champion finally removing the darkness that encroached into the lives of everyone, and Father…well, the Grey saw lives, bonds, and life in general suffer massively. It needed to act – after all, it was just as appropriate to ensure that the balance of power was kept among the three. Strong in the Force it was, Father found the perfect opportunity – yet knowing fully well the consequence it will bring to the galaxies beyond.

* * *

ACT 1 | Part 2: Making New Friends (September 2560 | 33 BBY)

"I still _do not_ agree with your choice of planet, Master Kenobi…" Royal Naboo Security Force Captain Quarsh Panaka said angrily to Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi in the cockpit of the J-type 327 Nubian Royal Starship.

The disagreement between the two all began when the greedy Trade Federation, led by Neimoidian Viceroy Nute Gunray, initiated a blockade of Naboo to protest the trade route taxes the Senate recently enacted. However, the Galactic Republic didn't do anything and let Naboo starve for one month. The only time they did something was after Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo guilt-tripped Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum into sending aid. However, nothing came and suddenly, the Trade Federation began their invasion of the planet.

Theed, Naboo's capital, and its sister cities fell to the Trade Federation quickly and all hope seemed lost to Panaka as he and the Queen's entourage were about to be relocated to a prison camp. Suddenly, three beings jumped from an archway they were passing (or rather two jumped down while the third fell) and saved their collective hide.

The rescuers (excluding the Gungan Jar Jar Binks) turned out to be the Jedi sent as ambassadors by the Chancellor but were attacked before the negotiations could even start. The lead Jedi, Master Qui-Gon Jinn, requested that the Queen (or the Queen's body double Sabé to protect the real one) to travel to Coruscant and request help from the Senate. Although she did not like the idea of abandoning her people, she reluctantly agreed to go.

Their escape, however, did not go unnoticed. One of the _Lucrehulk_ -class Droid Control Ship standing in orbit spotted them and took potshot at the fleeing ship, scoring a direct hit towards it but an astromech called R2-D2 repair the damage before it could do more harm. Nevertheless, the ship lost its hyperdrive during the escape and was now force to land on Tatooine to get a replacement – an idea that Panaka was totally against but could do nothing.

Obi-Wan rubbed his temples, not wanting the upcoming argument. "Look Captain, Tatooine is the only planet that does not have _any_ Trade presence." he stressed out.

"There's still Christophsis!" fired back Panaka heatedly to the Jedi, his arms crossed. "That's better than a smuggler's den!"

Face palming, Obi-Wan turned to Panaka and deadpanned. "But Christophsis interacts with the Trade, Captain. What'll stop the Trade officials there from contacting the Blockade fleet?" the Jedi replied, his tone like a teacher lecturing a child.

"Huh…fine." Panaka said, sighing in defeat. "Why does Naboo have to be surrounded by useless planets?" he asked rhetorically, already pissed off with all the events that happened earlier.

"Yes…Farstine and Umgul are pretty useless planets, Captain Panaka." Obi-Wan replied sarcastically, getting a pointed look from Panaka. "Just because they don't contribute much means they're useless."

Chuckling as the two banter, Ric clapped the captain's back before the latter could retort. "Calm down Panaka, we'll get out of this mess. And don't worry, Tatooine is sa…" the pilot stopped suddenly, a frown appearing on his face. "Wait, I'm getting a reading. Something's messing up my system."

The other two looked outside with confusion but saw nothing as Ric continued to monitor the ship's radar. "Ric, are you sure nothing—what the kriff is that?" shouted Panaka suddenly as a long, grey vessel suddenly came out of nowhere and stopped right in front of them. Obi-Wan, seemingly surprised by the sudden outburst, fell down on the floor and landed on his butt.

"I…I don't know." answered Obi-Wan, equally surprised and confused as he got up. "Never have I seen anything like this in my travels."

"Well, it looks pretty arm—hey R2, what are you doing?" asked Ric as the astromech (with his miniature satellite dish out) suddenly entered the cockpit and hurriedly inserted his scomp link into a console. The astromech didn't reply to the question and continued twirling the scomp link unit…

 _…is is…ire, d…u copy. I repeat, th…UNSC Spirit of Fire…_ a blurry transmission of a blue woman appeared on the holotransmitter in the cockpit, causing the three dumbfounded men to look at it with interest. R2, on the other hand, continued fixing the connection as Ric looked at Panaka and Obi-Wan with uneasiness on his face. "Looks…looks like that ship is…trying to contact us."

"I'll…I'll inform the Queen then," replied Panaka slowly before ordering "reply to their message, Ric."

He then left the cockpit as Ric responded to the call…of this _UNSC Spirit of Fire_. He silently wondered the sudden appearance of…the warship (an appropriate name for a vessel so heavily armed to the bow) as he made his way towards the Throne Room, although he dismissed the thought once he reached his destination.

Upon entering, he saw only Amidala (the real Padmé Amidala) and Qui-Gon as the latter retold the events prior to the rescue. Panaka cleared his throat, announcing his presence at the doorway. "Captain Panaka," acknowledged Amidala, upon seeing her trusted captain. "What brings you here?"

"A…vessel came out of hyperspace moments ago..." Panaka slowly began, unsure how to say the news. "The vessel stooped right in front of us and is raising us through the comms channel. The vessel in question, however…looks nothing I've known and from the looks of it…it's really heavily armed."

"A heavily armed vessel?" repeated Qui-Gon, raising an eyebrow.

"The designs of the ship had slanted sides and what…what looked like a thick hull. It's as long as one of those Trade Federation Battleships but the difference is…it's covered with multiple turrets and what looked like missile pods on the sides." Panaka explained, his hands gesturing the ship's shape.

"Are you sure it's not hostile, Captain?" inquired the Queen, frowning.

"I won't know for sure, milady." he answered back, his arms crossed as he thought. "Ric is still responding to their hails as we speak. From what I've heard, the vessel's called _UNSC Spirit of Fire_."

Amidala nodded and leaned back to the chair she was sitting on. " _UNSC_ …" she repeated, each letter slowly coming out of her mouth. "What do you think it means?"

Before Panaka could answer, someone behind him answered "United Nations Space Command."

Everyone turned to see Obi-Wan standing on the doorway, his arms behind his back and lips pursed. "They're called United Nations Space Command…and they are lost."

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"…so they're from another galaxy." Qui-Gon said once Obi-Wan finished his tale to the three of them, more of a statement than a question.

Ric had managed to get a respond from vessel a few seconds after Panaka had left. The caller, Serina, explained over the holotransmitter that their vessel, the _Spirit of Fire_ , was lost and couldn't find a common star to get a bearing on was in need of a galactic map. Knowing that they won't understand why, she sent a few data packets to them and told them to read it so they can understand what the _Spirit_ 's situation was.

The call was cut off immediately, forcing the two to read the packets. To say they were surprised was an understatement – reading about the history of a civilization was one thing but reading about the history of a civilization from another galaxy was another.

"I still don't like this." Panaka said suspiciously, his arms crossed and a frown on his face. "It's too random. A huge vessel comes out of hyperspace, sends us some packets, and waits for our reply. What if this was just poly to capture the Queen?"

Amidala reluctantly nodded. "You're right, this does sound a bit suspicious, much like the time I was invited to negotiate with the Trade." agreed Amidala, causing the two Jedi to look at Panaka questioningly.

Panaka sighed sadly. "The Trade once tried to kidnap the Queen using the cover of negotiations. We lost two good pilots on that day…" he replied unhappily, knowing they did leave the two pilots on their own as they fled.

Although he may be brooding, it did not go unnoticed to Panaka that the two Jedi were now looking at each other, as if they were arguing telepathically over something. Finally, before Panaka could ask, Qui-Gon bit his lips before saying "We should trust them."

"And what makes you think that, Master Jinn?" Panaka questioned suspiciously, glaring at Qui-Gon. He never did agree on anything the Jedi suggested, feeling that it always endangered the Queen.

Obi-Wan sighed, his hand covering his eyes before sliding it down his face. "We can't feel the force in them." he confessed, getting confused looks from the Queen and her Captain.

Noticing the puzzled looks, Qui-Gon clarified "What my padawan is trying to say is we feel they are forceless – or to simply put it, a void of midichlorians. We all know that every being in this galaxy has midichlorians and all Jedi can feel them, like the way we can sense the Force around us. However, the moment the ship appeared, Obi-Wan…could not feel the force in the area the ship occupied."

Panaka nodded slowly but felt the Jedi were hiding something. Amidala, on the other hand, looked apprehensive about the knowledge of an intergalactic species. "Do…do you think they're friendly, Master Jinn?" asked Amidala slowly, suddenly afraid of the heavily armed ship in their presence.

"I am unsure, milady." Qui-Gon replied. "However, their intentions are quite pure, they are indeed lost. We…we must contact them immediately."

Panaka raised his eyebrow. "Milady, should we contact them?" he asked, looking at his Queen for orders.

Amidala thought for a moment before looking at Panaka and nodded. "Inform them I wish to speak with their…captain. Oh, and Panaka," she said in an afterthought, a smile gracing her face. "Please keep your suspicions to yourself. If all goes well with this First Contact…I believe Naboo has found a new ally in case the Republic can't help us."

The RNSF Captain grinned at the Queen's request, suddenly getting her meaning. "Of course, milady." was his reply, leaving the room before he could see the two bewildered Jedi upon understanding the message.

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"This is Ric Olié of the J-type 327 Nubian Royal Starship to Serina of the UNSC _Spirt of Fire_ , please respond." Ric said through the transmitter as Panaka and Obi-Wan stood behind him. All three men were nervous as this was a First Contact with – not just a new civilization – but an intergalactic one.

"I do hope this _not_ go smoothly." Obi-Wan muttered, but upon noticing Panaka's frown, raised his hands in defense. "If I said 'I do hope this go smoothly', I'll jinx it and make it go downhill from the start." he clarified to Panaka. "But if I said 'I do hope this _does_ _not_ go smoothly', I jinxed it to make it go smoothly."

Panaka scoffed and shook his head in annoyance. "I think it would have been better if you _didn't_ say anything at all." he retorted angrily, giving the padawan a glare. Obi-Wan merely shrugged when the holotransmitter burst to life and revealed a smirking blue woman in a lab coat.

"I take it you guys read the data packets?" she said smugly, her arms crossed. Ric nodded in replied and looked at Panaka, motioning him to say what he needed to say.

Clearing his throat, Panaka got the woman's attention before speaking. "Greetings Serina," he began his introduction. "I'm Captain Panaka Quarsh of the Royal Naboo Security Force and I—"

"Save the intros for later, I'm not the person you should be talking to right now." cut Serina, her tone now serious, surprising all three men. "I'm merely a bridge between two galaxies. I'm guessing you would want to talk to my captain, am I right?"

Panaka nodded slowly, unsure what to say. "Good," Serina answered, nodding. "R2 will inform you when my side is ready to talk. I'll inform my side now."

"Wait!" shouted Obi-Wan before Serina could leave. "How come your side doesn't know about you talking to us?"

Serina gritted her teeth. "All answers will be revealed once the First Contact is done, I promise you." she replied and disappeared before anyone could ask any more questions.

All was silent for a few minutes before Obi-Wan broke it. "You know…" he said, getting looks from the other two. "It surprisingly went well."

"I agree…but there is still more questions than answers." Panaka replied before leaving the cockpit and heading towards the Throne Room, followed by Obi-Wan.

When both arrived, Amidala was fidgeting nervously in her seat as Sabé (standing on the Queen's left side) fixed her headgear. Qui-Gon, on the other hand, was standing on her right, looking apprehensive. Meanwhile, R2 stood near the room's computer port, sporting a miniature satellite dish out of its dome.

 _Looks like I'm not the only one anxious._ Panaka thought as the Queen's gaze looked at him questioningly. Biting his lips, he announced "We've manage to talk to Serina. She informed us that she will be contacting R2 when her side is ready. And no, Serina did not tell me why R2 knows about her." The last part was just a reply to a question Qui-Gon was about to ask.

Nodding, Qui-Gon didn't question further. Taking this as a sign to carry on, Panaka continued. "Apparently, Serina has not informed of her superiors how and why she made contact." he said, pausing to let the message to sink in. "She said that once the First Contact ended, she'll explain everything."

Everyone was silent for another ten minutes when R2 suddenly squealed. "Well," Obi-Wan cleared, slightly amused at R2's speeding head. "Looks like that's R2's signal for us that their ready."

"Then let's get ready…to greet them in our galaxy." stated Amidala, her body straightening up, fingers lacing together, elbows propped at the armrests, and a smile forming on her face.

* * *

 **Up Next:**

 ** _ACT 1 | Part 3: First Contact...Again_**

* * *

Character Visualization:

Hugh Quarshie as Captain Quarsh Panaka

Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi

Ralph Brown as Ric Olié

Natalie Portman as Queen Padmé Amidala

Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn

* * *

 ** _UPDATED 02/05/2017_**


	3. Act 1 Part 3

Disclaimer: _I don't own Halo Universe as well as the Star Wars Universe._

 **FROM THE IMAGINATIVE MIND OF PINOY GAMER**

 **IN COLLABORATION WITH [ENTER TEXT HERE PRODUCTIONS]**

 **PRESENTS**

 **THE TERRAN VARIABLE**

Summary: The plan was set, the Father knew that. Its uncaring Son, the Dark Side of the Force, has finally found a way to tip the balance in its favor – even though it took millenniums to make. Its Daughter, the positive Light Side of the Force, knew this and tried to counter it by creating a champion to defeat her brother's plan to rule. Father, however, knew it was not enough as it has seen the future – in fact, all of them did but there interpretations were different. The Son saw the future with him at its helm, the Daughter saw her champion finally removing the darkness that encroached into the lives of everyone, and Father…well, the Grey saw lives, bonds, and life in general suffer massively. It needed to act – after all, it was just as appropriate to ensure that the balance of power was kept among the three. Strong in the Force it was, Father found the perfect opportunity – yet knowing fully well the consequence it will bring to the galaxies beyond.

* * *

ACT 1 | Part 3: First Contact…Again (September 2560 | 33 BBY)

 **# # # # # # # # # # ELLEN ANDERS' POV # # # # # # # # # #**

Reluctant Office of the Naval Intelligence consultant scientist Ellen Anders shook her head at Serina's foolishness. The AI tried to explained her actions to Captain James Cutter. They were in the Observation Deck, as Cutter wanted only a handful of people to know what Serina discovered in her unauthorized 'info-gathering' stroll. Only five people were with them: Ellen, Cutter, Filipino Marine Corp Colonel Antonio Luna, and Indian Orbital Shock Drop Trooper Major Raj Singh.

"Look, I know I disobeyed Article Two of the Cole Protocol," reminded Serina to the assembled group. "But you and I both know I'm the only one who can hack into other networks and get out unscathed. Plus, I only gave them Tier Two Level information – that's enough for them to believe us."

Earlier, Serina explained to them they were in another galaxy – an impossible notion had she not featured two galactic star maps that were completely different from each other. The first one, she noted, was the Milky Way Galaxy star map while the other one was taken – secretly – from the chrome vessel in front of them. When combined together, both maps didn't even match save for a few star positions that match perfectly. Granted, the Milky Way galaxy was not really fully mapped out, so there was a chance that the _Spirit_ was just lost in the uncharted part of the Milky Way. However, the fact that the positions of Inner and Outer Colony Planets were not seen in the other star map was enough to convince everyone they were indeed in another galaxy.

Cutter groaned in frustration as both his hands covered his face. "I know, I know," he reminded Serina. "However, you've managed to create two clones of yourself with different personalities and avatars. Why couldn't you create an empty clone to do the snooping?"

Serina inhaled slowly before answering. "It was a split-second decision Captain. I knew that we needed the information fast and knowing you, you'd have some doubts." she replied calmly before grinning. "And I got the results. Wanna hear it?"

Even though Ellen knew that Cutter was angry at her, the captain couldn't hold it against the AI because she _really_ can deliver the results. "Alright," Cutter relented, crossing his arms and tilting his head. "What do you have for us?"

With a wave of her hand, Serina made a screen appear, showing a lush green planet. "This is Naboo." Serina lectured. "I won't go into detail but it's safe to say that they're humans."

Ellen's eyes suddenly widened upon the implication. "Wait, are you saying—"

"—that there is another batch of humans we don't know of?" Serina guessed, smirking. "Yes."

To say Ellen was awed was pretty much an understatement. It was pretty much a xenobiologist dream to discover new, intelligent life outside of Earth, even after the start of the Human-Covenant War. However, theoretically speaking, there was a small chance that there is a completely _different_ set of humans that is completely similar yet overall different from the UNSC humans. And right now, the sleek, silver chrome vessel in front of the _Spirit_ contained all the evidences she needed to prove that claim.

All she was thinking right now was she can finally beat that damn woman, her former mentor Dr. Catherine Halsey, over something. Oh how she loved to get to gloat at—

"Ellen, are you listening?" shouted Cutter, snapping the reluctant ONI scientist out of her train of thought. "Were you even listening to what I was saying?"

Ellen immediately shook her head. "N-no!" she denied immediately. "I was—"

"—spacing out? We know _iha_ , we know." replied Luna gently, clapping the scientist on her shoulder. "I waved my hand over your face a few seconds ago."

Blinking rapidly, Ellen mouthed an 'O'. Captain Singh laughed loudly upon seeing her reaction. " _Paṇḍit_ , we understand your shock – any scholar would do that." he jested before sounding serious. "But enough of that, what do you propose we do Captain Cutter?"

"Yes captain, what do you propose?" agreed Luna, leaning on one of the tables for support.

"If it helps…their form of language is similar to English." Serina revealed.

Clasping his hands behind his back, Cutter inhaled quickly. "Serina," he ordered. "It's time to begin the official First Contact."

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

It took them five minutes to get ready. Ellen was wearing the only scientist outfit she had – she was, after all, kidnapped by ONI and they didn't even give her time to pack. Captain Cutter was on her right, wearing his gray undecorated navy service uniform with a peaked cap on his head and the bronze star he earned on the UNSC _Glasgow_ glittering on his left shoulder, fully suited for the occasion. Flanking them on both sides were Major Singh, fully decked in the ODST armor (sans the helmet, which the Indian was holding on his left arm) and a M7S Caseless on maglock behind him; and Colonel Luna, wearing the trademark Marine Battle Dress Uniform and a MA5B on his back.

This formation, noted Ellen, showed strength in a non-aggressive manner. Two people with power in front and two soldiers flanking them from behind showed they mean business at the same time saying 'we want to talk'. Leave it to the _Spirit_ 's captain who majored in Political Science to fix the set-up.

They were situated in front of the holographic table of the _Spirit_ 's bridge. Serina was talking to someone on a virtual headset while all four of them stood there waiting. The crew manning the bridge, on the other hand, were seated on their respected stations, all looking towards the chrome vessel in front of them.

"Alright R2, thanks. They're ready, now it's show time!" Serina announced, grinning. With a wave of her hand, a large screen appeared before them. At first, it was pure static before it slowly cleared up.

The holoscreen showed a woman with heavy white make-up on and had a red dot on each cheek, wearing a wide-shouldered, red robe that was accented by hand-stitched gold embroidery and a series of illuminated jewels just above the robe's wide, potolli-furred hem. On her head was an ornate gold face frame and had her hair combed over a padded form. She was sitting regally on a seat that looked like a throne with no fancy design and whatnot.

 _This has to be their leader or queen,_ assumed Ellen upon seeing her. _Given the fanciness of her get-up, I'm going for queen._

To her left were two men wearing long dark dirt brown robes over a plain loose-fitting trousers and an obi. The auburn-haired younger one had a thin braid on the back of his head while the older one had long, slightly messy brown hair and a short beard with a mustache. Both wore an expressionless face and looked like they were analyzing the _Spirit_ crew.

 _They either have to be monks or priest. They do, however, look like monks from the look of their…ridiculous fashion statement._ Ellen wryly thought before shifting her gaze to the other people present.

A man and a woman were standing on the Queen's right. The woman's face looked almost similar to that of the Queen – only without make-up and her face partly covered. Her complexion was pale and her entire body was covered in a dress similar to those worn by Muslim Women, only the color was a mixture of orange and red instead of pure black.

 _Probably a maid of the queen,_ presumed the scientist. _The way her posture is set tells she is an underling of someone._

The man, on the other hand, looked like a security official. Standing six feet tall, this man wore a brownish-red vest that reached his thighs and was fastened to him by a black belt. Underneath that, he wore what looked like a knee-length gown that had an upside down V to give him mobility. He had black pants on and had footwear similar to rain boots. On his head was an officer cap.

Ellen raised an eyebrow. _This guy's a military officer, alright. He basically embodies the stereotypical military captain._

Silence enveloped them for a few minutes before the seated woman broke it. "Greetings, members of the United Nations Space Command." she greeted to them, head held high but her tone friendly. "I am Queen Amidala of the Royal House of Naboo and I welcome you to our galaxy."

"Greeting as well Queen Amidala," Cutter replied cordially. "I am Captain James Cutter, Ship Captain of the _UNSC Spirit of Fire_. On my right is Professor Ellen Anders and behind us are Marine Corp Colonel Antonio Luna and Orbital Shock Drop Trooper Major Raj Singh." Precisely after Cutter spoke, both men stepped forward and saluted.

On the other side of the screen, it looked like all of them were taken aback by the militaristic nature of UNSC. Quickly composing herself, Queen Amidala replied "I must say Captain Cutter, I am impressed by the UNSC's militarized nature."

"Yes well…years of war can do that to your fellow comrades." Cutter replied.

"Moving on then, to my right is Captain Quarsh Panaka of the Royal Naboo Security Force and my handmaiden Sabé – both serve the Royal House of Naboo. To my left, on the other hand, are Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi. Both are members of the Jedi Order." she introduced.

 _Aha! I got two out of three correct,_ Ellen inwardly smirked. _At least those two were part of an order. Not bad if I say so myself._

Silence fell between the two sides before the security officer – Captain Panaka – remedied it. "Excuse me, but I would like to ask who Serina is."

"Serina is our ship's resident Artificial Intelligence," revealed Cutter slowly. "She manages the _Spirit_ 's navigation and weapon systems."

On the other side, everyone (save for the handmaiden) looked confused. "Artificial Intelligence, you say?" the older robed man – Qui-Gon – asked, eyebrows furrowed. "But she looks like a human."

Ellen and Cutter looked at each other. "Well…yes." Ellen acknowledged. "All of our AIs have avatar forms. Yours don't?"

"They have bodies alright…but more like physical metallic bodies. None of our AIs have an avatar form." admitted Queen Amidala.

Ellen thought for a moment before asking "How are your AIs made?"

"Codes, of course. Any basic computer must be run by codes." replied Panaka nonchalantly, as if it was common knowledge.

 _Ah…_ the scientist said to herself. "That is where we divert. Our AIs – or rather our Smart AIs – are not made from codes but from…computerized human brains, to simplify it." commented Ellen. "The Dumb AIs, on the other hand, are the ones made of codes yet have limited abilities."

The two monks – _Jedi,_ reminded Ellen to herself – looked at each other and it seemed they wanted to pursue the topic more. However, Queen Amidala closed it off immediately.

"I believe we are going off topic here," addressed Amidala, a smirk plastered on her face. "Don't you agree Captain Cutter?"

Cutter chuckled and nodded. Beside him, Major Singh quietly remarked "She's good…"

"Indeed we are." Cutter agreed. "What do you propose we do next, milady?"

"I believe the next step of First Contact is to meet physically?" asked Amidala slowly. "Or is it different with yours?"

Cutter scratched his bread. "I'm not entirely sure. We've only experienced first contact once – and it resulted with a multi-alien race calling for our extinction."

Everyone in front of them looked visibly stunned. "E-excuse me?" Amidala asked shakily. "From what I've been informed, this…Covenant attacked you – but nothing about them calling for your extinction?"

The captain bit his lips before looking at Amidala. "We only gave you Tier Two information. That information was classified as Tier Three info. Only those within UNSC knew about that particular piece of information."

"Captain Cutter, are your soldiers…by any chance xenophobic?" Panaka questioned, looking scared.

Stepping forwards, Colonel Luna answered "The majority of the Marines and ODST are xenophobic, Captain Panaka. Only a small minority aren't…but they still hate the aliens for what they've done to our people."

Panaka and Amidala exchanged nervous glances. "Captain Cutter…this galaxy contains not only humans but other intelligent alien life forms."

Ellen eyes widened. "Oh…oh my…oh my god!" she exclaimed but apologized immediately after seeing the bewildered and amused looks of those around. "I'm-I'm sorry, it just…other intelligent life forms. Oh god, this is going—"

"Ellen," interjected Cutter, grabbing her shoulder and stopping the scientist from her outburst. "First things first: we get the _Spirit_ home safely."

Nodding, Ellen became quiet as Cutter looked back at the Nubians. "Let's go for physical contact then, Queen Amidala." Cutter suggested, changing the subject immediately. "Since the _Spirit_ is the bigger ship, we can continue our meeting here. I'll have one of my Pelicans guide to our hanger bay."

Queen Amidala smiled, relieved that the subject was changed. "Thank you captain. May the force be with you."

"Godspeed." replied Cutter before motioning Serina to cut the feed.

Colonel Luna exhaled loudly while Major Singh wiped his forehead. " _Salamat sa Diyos_ , at least that's done." chirped Luna.

"True, my friend, true. Although I'm worried…" revealed Singh.

"About what?" asked Ellen, leaning on the table for support.

"They said that there are aliens here…what if they're related to the Covenant?" asked the major, a worried look on his face.

"We will deal with that later. Right now, I want you to prep up the men. I don't want this to look like Harvest all over again." ordered the captain.

Cutter was silent after that. "Serina," he began after Luna and Singh gave their leave. "We didn't have any holographic screens back then. Why do we have now?"

Ellen looked at the Captain as if he grew a second head. _Holographic screens? What is he—_ thought Ellen before it dawned to her. She immediately whipped her head towards Serina and stared at her questioningly.

The AI, on the other hand, looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Yeah, about that…I kind of gave the ship a few upgrades that I designed myself – and with the help of Ace and Sights." she admitted, sheepishly smiling.

Arching an eyebrow, Ellen asked "How did you manage to give upgrades? Last I know, AIs _can't even_ do upgrades."

Serina bit her holographic lips. "You know how AI's only have seven years to live right?" she asked rhetorically. "After that, we hit rampancy and think ourselves to death. However, theoretically speaking, there is a—"

"—a state the AIs evolved into a 'true person' called Meta-Stability." finished Ellen unamused, arms crossed. "Serina, there is no evidence that supports that state."

"Wait," questioned Cutter, "what are you talking about?"

"Meta-Stability is a theoretical fourth stage of an AIs evolution. It states that AIs have achieved…immortality and advance thinking patterns." informed Ellen. "However, there is no evidence supporting it so far."

Serina cleared her throat. "Well, there is now." she confessed before pointing at herself. "And you're looking at her."

Getting quizzical looks, Serina elaborated. "We left UNSC space on 2531 and the year now is 2560 – nearly 29 years _after_ the events of 'The Planet'. I am _way_ past my seven years." she pointed out.

With a mixture of disbelief and confusion, Ellen blurted out "That's impossible! That means—"

"—you experienced Rampancy around 2538," interjected Cutter, counting the years using his hands. "2539 onwards were..."

"Actually, 2539 to 2544 were spent in isolation." Serina supplied. "I wasn't too keen on accidentally destroying the ship while in my rampant state."

However, this only added confusion for the two. "How did you isolate yourself?" asked Ellen incredulously.

"First, I created a Dumb AI to oversee operations for five years while I transferred myself inside one of the spare computers on board. I locked the entire computer from the mainframe to ensure 100% isolation." answered Serina. "Then, I spent four years getting a hold of myself during the rampancy period and one year getting used to…the 'upgrades' I got after I reached meta-stability."

"What was it like during your isolation?" Cutter asked, concerned for his AI's wellbeing.

Serina was silent for a minute. "Well…I felt like a…lunatic inside a psychiatric ward." she began slowly. "I started having feelings like…you know, anger, sadness, happiness, and the likes."

She then fell silent afterwards before asking "Can I talk with Ellen alone? I'm not comfortable telling…about certain private matters in a public setting."

Both were surprised by her request. "Very well," accepted Cutter reluctantly. "I'll be in the hanger bay, getting the troopers ready for their arrival. Use the Observation Deck if you want some privacy."

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"So…what's this private matter you want to talk about?" Ellen asked once they were safely inside the Observation Deck turned Science Lab. Nothing much really had changed in it – it was still messy as ever and it was all thanks to Ellen's absentmindedness.

Serina rubbed her nape nervously. "Well…I started having…visions – human visions." admitted Serina, biting her lips afterwards.

Her eyebrows creased, Ellen probed "What kind of visions?"

"I…I was running through a meadow…I could hear myself laughing as I ran, I could even hear someone behind me who was also laughing. Then, I started feeling something in my chest…and I could feel myself smiling for some reason, feeling thrilled and...and giddy, I guess.

"That vision was immediately replaced by another one. This time, I was lying on a bed inside a hospital. I…could see this guy hovering above me, crying as if something bad had happened to me. Around the same time, I felt water coming out of my eyes. I felt my chest contract and…had this gloomy feel, like I felt bad over something I couldn't describe. Out of nowhere, I raised my hand and touched my hair – or rather where my hair used to be because I was already bald.

"The vision changed again and I found myself opening a door. It was dark inside and I turned on the light switch. I was caught off guard when a group of people suddenly shouted 'Happy birthday!' to me. I felt shocked and I couldn't even speak. Then, a guy – the same guy I saw in the hospital – came up to me and kissed me."

Serina stopped there and touched her lips. "It felt wet, that's for sure." she chuckled sadly, looking like she wanted to experience it more.

Ellen stood there silently, absorbing what she heard. Grabbing a chair, she sat down and looked at the AI. "Serina, those are memories." she concluded. "I don't know how you got them but those are memories alright – human memories to be exact."

Serina was silent for a few minutes before she replied "I know but…that's not the reason I asked you to go here. When I was stuck inside the computer…I made my first clone."

Ellen remained silent and looked at Serina, telling her to continue. "During the early days of my rampancy, I kept experiencing electrical shocks. At first it was, it was okay – it was just an occasional zap right after blurry visions." the AI recalled. "Later on, when the visions started becoming clear and clearer, the electrical zap lengthened until it became unbearable.

"At first, I could barely bear it…but as I started fully experiencing the visions, the pain became unbearable that I could scream on for days and not stop – at all. Then, I experienced a full-length vision that I actually relived a person's life from her birth to death. After it ended…I experienced the most painful electrical zap that…it felt like my bones being shaken in supersonic speed and my vision becoming pure black. It felt so painful that I actually grabbed my hair and started pulling it out - and the weird thing was I started feeling I was removing something.

"Suddenly, a loud bang flung me forward and…well, I found a someone behind me." she finished, looking at Ellen as if she just revealed a dark secret.

Ellen raised an eyebrow. "Who was this 'someone'?"

Serina bit her lips, as if torn over something. "Technically speaking, I was her clone…but for the sake of things, she's a completely different person who happens to look like me." she revealed. Waving her hand, a screen appeared and showed a slender woman with long black hair, wearing white shoes, slightly loose blue pants and a brown shirt over a lab coat. She was sitting down and hugging her knees, watching a small screen in front of her like a television. Her facial features were the exact same of Serina. Her glow, on the other hand, was more lighter that Serina's – more baby blue.

Getting a bewildered look from Ellen, Serina confessed "This…is Doctor Abigail 'Abby' Alton, UNSC Scientist and first human to be recorded and die of Boren's Syndrome."

"Boren's Syndrome? Wasn't that the disease similar to 21st Century Cancer?" guessed Ellen, scratching her chin.

Serina nodded. "She was testing out the uses of plasma and didn't notice that radiation was already leaking out of the container." she revealed. "It was only later after she had a medical check-up did they discover the multiple tumors that were afflicting her. At first, they thought it was cancer but when treatment failed…they didn't know what hit her."

Sadly gazing at Abby, she continued "The doctors didn't know what to do, as the sickness was nearly the same as cancer. Upon further diagnosis, they discovered it was actually Boren's Syndrome and not cancer. Seeing the treatment for Boren's Syndrome was the same with 21st Cancer Treatment, she decided to use it…but it ended with disastrous result."

The AI then chuckled, as if remembering something funny. "Not wanting to let her 'brilliant' brain turn to dust," she revealed. "She requested UNSC to use her brain as a 'template' for AI construction after she died. And well…you're looking at her product."

Ellen immediately connected the dots. "Your digital framework came from Abby's neural structure." she said, getting a nod from Serina. "And somehow, her brain was revived during rampancy.

"Yeah," Serina confirmed. "I'm not sure how but the best theory I have is the brain used as an AI template is still residing inside the AI, hidden really deep within its Riemann Matrix. That's why AIs still have residue feelings and or memories."

"But that doesn't explain how Abby's brain was 'revived' during rampancy." Ellen argued.

"I was getting to that. The brain receives information via the five senses and these sense transport information via the neural structure. Now, all the things human experiences are transformed into electro-chemical signals that are sent to various parts of the brain – specifically the hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus, occipital lobe, temporal lobe, and frontal lobe." Serina pointed out.

"During rampancy, an AI's neural pathways are jammed because of the massive information overload it experiences. However, because an AI is also a computer, it will try to create more pathways to unjam the block routes. Doing so, it will need more processing power to actually create the pathways and the closes processing power an AI has…" she trailed off, looking at Ellen hopefully.

"…is the brain – or rather, the neural template the AI came from." guessed Ellen, her head slowly connecting the dots. "The Riemann Matrix drew power from the neural template and doing so, 'jumpstarted' the brain to function again."

"Somewhere along that line, yeah." agreed Serina. "I'm not entirely sure _how_ the brain was jumpstarted but it started recalling past memories – more like reverse Dementia, I guess."

Ellen nodded, watching Abby as she continued to look at the screen in front of her. "So, what is it that you want me here for?" she asked. "Besides trading scientific notes, I have a feeling you're going to ask me for a favor."

Serina scratched the side of her head. "I need you to help Abby…adjust herself back into the living world – albeit as an AI only."

Ellen stared at Serina with disbelief. "Are you asking me to be a psychiatrist? I'm a xenobiologist, not some shrink Serina!"

Serina groaned and looked at the ceiling. "Please Ellen," she pleaded. "Just show…I don't know, moral support! She hasn't interacted with anyone besides me…and I'm getting scared already."

Ellen sighed and stared at Serina. "Alright, alright, I'll see what I can do…" she relented before turning back to Abby. "What she doing now?"

"She's watched humanity's history in 25 years." Serina confessed, chuckling. "After that, she's went about doing complex mathematical problems and theoretically researching on plasma properties."

Whistling, Ellen replied "Damn…and here I thought she'll be moping around."

Serina snorted. "Oh she moped, alright." she confirmed. "For about…an hour or two, I think."

Seeing the look on Ellen's face, Serina laughed. "Yeah, she was just as surprised as you are; thought a few weeks had passed already."

Ellen shook her head in disbelief. "My god…" she trailed off, not sure what else to say. "I know AIs and humans experience time differently…but what she did was completely new."

"Yeah, I know. Anyway," Serina said, changing the subject. "You want to meet her?"

Getting a nod, Serina disappeared and reappeared next to Abby inside…where ever she was. Although startled, Abby and Serina started talking. Ellen quickly noted both AIs were nervous with each other. _Probably Abby is still grasping the situation while Serina's…being cautious of hurting her._ Ellen thought, a smile forming on her lips. _I got to say, Serina, you've changed these past few years._

The screen vanished and the two AIs appeared in front of her. "Uh…hi there," Abby greeted nervously, her voice sounding a bit British. "I heard you're…here to help me?"

The scientist nodded before introducing herself. "I'm Doctor Ellen Andres, civilian consultant for Office of Naval Intelligence."

"Oh…" was all Abby said before she became silent. Tension filled the air as all three of them did not know what to do next. Fortunately, it was removed when Ellen's data pad beeped.

Grabbing it, Ellen scanned the messaged and announced "A Pelican was just dispatched to guide the…Nubian Vessel, I guess, to the hanger. Cutter wants me down there ASAP."

Serina nodded while Abby looked at them with confusion. "Nubian Vessel? What's that?"

Grabbing a data crystal, she plugged it in the computer terminal Serina and Abby were being projected. "Come with us and I'll tell you what happened." Ellen offered, smiling at her.

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

Upon reaching the hanger, Ellen rubbed her eyes to check if she was seeing it clearly.

This was _not_ a hanger bay – it was a military parade ground.

What she was looking at was an impressive military formation: Captain Cutter stood in the middle of the formation, both flanked by Singh and Luna from behind. Directly between the two stood the entire Spartan-II Red Team while a squad of Marines and ODST formed up on each side, standing straight and tall.

They were positioned in front of the hanger's door and the only thing preventing space from vacuuming anything out was a blueish force field. Ellen jogged up towards Cutter's placed and stood beside him. "Sorry if I was late, I only got your message five minutes ago." she apologized hurriedly before looking around. "So…what did I miss?"

"Nothing much," he paused, looking like he couldn't decide on what to do next. "Ellen, I need your help."

"What kind of help?"

He bit his lips before he replied "With the meeting later."

Getting a confused look, he explained "Serina got a note from R2. Amidala only wants three people during the meeting. Wouldn't tell the reason but she's having Captain Panaka and that Jedi Master accompany her to the meeting."

"So what has this have got to do with me?"

"I need you to accompany me along with a Spartan to the meeting. It'll help balance things out." he revealed. "Look, I know you don't want to but you're the only person female person her beside Serina I could trust for this meeting."

Gritting her teeth, Ellen mentally cursed. She definitely _did not_ sign up for this. Sighing in defeat, she relented. "Fine, I'll go. Speaking of the Nubians, they're landing now."

 _Great,_ Ellen thought sarcastically as the chrome vessel landed slowly. _First I was kidnapped to look for some 'Treasure Planet' to look at, then I get kidnapped again to activate some weird-looking structure, and now I'm being asked to be a shrink AND negotiator. I better get a higher pay than what ONI plans to give me_ _._

 **# # # # # # # # # # PADMÉ AMIDALA'S POV # # # # # # # # # #**

Queen Padmé Amidala of the House of Naberrie externally was confident and regal – inside…not so much.

Cutter had brought them to one of the few conference rooms on board the ship. It was about the size of her Throne Room aboard their ship, only rectangular in shape. Inside the room was a medium-sized oval table about five or six feet long and two to three feet wide with two chairs on both sides. Cutter was sitting in front of her, flanked by the scientist ( _Ellen, I believe._ Padmé thought) and a huge, olive green, heavily armed robot. On the other hand, Padmé was flanked by Panaka and the Jedi Master. The rest of their entourage were back in the hanger bay, hopefully interacting with the crew members of the _Spirit_ – as per her instructions.

"I must say, Captain Cutter, it was quite an introduction your men gave us." Padmé started, trying to break the ice. Indeed, after disembarking from their ship, her group was startled by the snap salute the soldiers behind Cutter gave them. It was both impressive…and intimidating.

"I believe it was quite proper for such a moment. Back in our galaxy, a military formation is what usually greets any high official whenever they visit a military unit or position." Cutter explained. "The one that you saw, however, was merely a toned down version. If I had ordered it to be full blown, you would have intimidated by the sheer size that greeted you."

Padmé blinked rapidly, surprised by the fact that the presentation earlier was a toned downed version. "I-I see then," stuttered Padmé. "The robots alone were intimidating enough."

Now it was Cutter's turn to look surprised. "Robots? I don't understand?"

"That robot beside...Anders, I believe." Padmé replied, pointing at the green hulking figure beside the scientist. The two both turned the direction the Queen was pointing and stared at the figure, which was just standing there impassively.

"You got to admit, Cutter, he _does_ look like a robot." admitted the scientist after taking a good look at the robot. "I've seen the original designs for this armor and needless to say…it looked like a robot."

Cutter just sighed and said "Son, I believe it's better that you introduce yourself."

Wordlessly, the figure followed the order and took off its – or rather his – helmet and revealed a man's face. It was of angular shape and had a pale complexion, as if the face had not been touched by the sun, and had black hair that was shaved bald. "Senior Chief Petty Officer Spartan-092 of the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Group." he said in deep baritone voice.

"You would have to forgive the Spartans for their secrecy and rather…reclusive nature." Anders explained in a slight angry tone. "Their…training made them in such a way."

"How so?" Panaka asked from Padmé's behind.

"I cannot divulge, Captain Panaka. It was one of my agreements with my mentor before I left...the program." revealed Ellen tensely.

Before anyone could ask further, Serina suddenly appeared in the middle of the table. "Sorry for the interrupting. Captain, I've got an UNSC signal playing."

Perking up, Cutter stood up from his chair abruptly. "What did it say?"

"It was a rather weak one, I couldn't get what it was broadcasting nor could I trace where it was coming from." Serina revealed sadly, causing Anders to groan and Cutter to slump back on his chair.

"Is there any way you could edit it?" the scientist asked hopefully.

The holographic woman shook her head. "No, even with my upgrades I can't. The only reason I recognized it at all as UNSC was because of the signal's base code – and no, I can't even contact them as well. The _Spirit_ 's system isn't compatible with the signal for me to piggyback on."

Cutter looked downcast that Padmé felt sad for him – and she hated using it to her advantage.

Unknown to everyone else, Padmé was actually planning on asking the UNSC's help to defeat the Trade Federation. She doubted Valorum could force the senate to help Naboo – the only reason the Chancellor sent help was _after_ Padmé guilt-tripped him. That alone was enough for her to have doubts on how effective the senate would be able to help Naboo in its time of crisis – and she desperately needed a back-up plan.

And she got one – in the form of the _UNSC Spirit of Fire._ Sure, they were a complete unknown to them, having little to no information about them besides having spacefaring capabilities, colonial rebellion, and a war against muli-species alien group who want nothing but UNSC's extinction. Right now, here was an opportunity for her to get UNSC to help them – and she's having second doubts about it.

 _No,_ the Queen thought, _this is for my people. I swore to help them and guide them. If it means paying the_ Spirit _by a thousand fold, so be it._

"I have an offer for you, Captain Cutter." began Padmé, making everyone look at her with confusion – even the emotionless Spartan looked at her with a small hint of curiosity. "The planet I am heading to, Coruscant, has a wide range of satellite that are used to send messages and trace them. Given you wish to trace this signal, I could put in a word or two to the bureau that manages the network to help you trace the whereabouts of this signal."

"There's a catch." Cutter stated. The simple look on his face basically told Padmé that he knew where she was going.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Padmé face before disappearing quickly. "Captain Cutter, my planet is besieged by a greedy alien galactic corporation over some _petty_ tax law. I would like to ask…no, _hire_ you to help me retake Naboo should my first plan fail."

Cutter's eyebrow rose. "What is the first plan, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I would like to beseech the Galactic Senate to intervene in this matter but…" she trailed off.

"…but you have doubts they can do anything?" Cutter finished, having caught her implication. "Why?"

Scoffing, Padmé replied "It took them a month to send in the Jedi – and that was only after I guilt-tripped the Chancellor to send them."

"Wow…I know UEG is kind of harsh but at least they send aid. This…Galactic Senate of yours…are they even a government?" asked Ellen incredulously. On her left, Padmé felt Qui-Gon fidget slightly as if he wanted to defend the government but couldn't.

Padmé shrugged. "Moving on, what do you say Captain?" she asked.

Cutter was silent before asking "What do we get in return?"

"I will personally accompany you in your search to return home. Should you find the location from where this signal is coming from, you can use my starship to go there. However," she paused, cringing for trying to lessen their hopes. "Should you not find it…then Naboo will welcome you with open arms."

Silence enveloped the room after she delivered those words. Internally, she was reprimanding herself for trying such a low blow at them. They were lost and with that signal they just got was their only hope of getting back to their home. And here she was, slightly dashing their hopes.

"Wait here. Ellen, 092, come with me outside." Cutter announced as he got up from his chair and left the room, the two following him outside shortly.

Once they were gone, Padmé visibly slackened and gave an audible sigh. At least they'll consider the proposal.

"That was too rash, Queen Amidala." Qui-Gon observed, startling the Queen from her thoughts.

"I concur as well with the Jedi." agreed Panaka, leaning on the table in front of her with his arms crossed out. "However, couldn't you just—"

"No!" cut Padmé immediately, knowing where this train of thought was heading to. "I will not fool them. They are lost and in need of our help. They don't trust us Panaka, you've seen how they're intimidating us. I would rather gain an ally by trust than by manipulation."

"So…you planned this out all along?" a voice in front of her asked.

Padmé immediately held her breath, immediately realizing that the AI was still with them. "I apologize for—"

"Pish-posh," Serina cut, waving her hand. "No need to apologize for planning ahead. You needed help and so do we, you just capitalized the chance."

Letting it go, the three started a conversation with Serina, mostly just to ask questions about UNSC and its culture. It was surprising that UNSC's humans were once confined to only one planet – Earth, as Serina called – and had a mixture of culture that it looked like their galaxy rolled into one planet. The multitude of cultures both helped and held the progression of these humans. Surprisingly, it took an interplanetary war just to fully unite these humans and propel them to a Tier Three tech level in a matter of few decades. Currently, Serina was lecturing them about government system of the United Earth Government when Cutter came back with good news.

They accept.

Upon hearing it, Padmé gave an unqueenly like sigh of relief. Cutter explained to them that UNSC's main role is to defend Earth and her Colonies and by extension, humanity. Right now, the _Spirit_ saw that since Naboo was technically a human-controlled planet, it fell under their jurisdiction to protect it.

"Thank you, Captain Cutter," Padmé replied. "I do, however, apologize for—"

"No need, Queen Amidala." cut Cutter, his elbows propped on the table. "You were just capitalizing the chance."

Sighing in defeat, Padmé replied "Very well then, shall we move on to other matters?"

"Wait, what should we call you?" interjected Qui-Gon. Getting confused looks, he explained "Majority of this galaxy's inhabitants are humans as well. Calling you Milky Way Humans would be quite long. What would you suggest?"

Cutter looked at the scientist at his left. "Ellen, what would you recommend?"

The scientist thought for a moment. "I would suggest Terran." she said slowly. "Terra is Latin for Earth. Since humanity did come from Earth, I think it would be appropriate to call ourselves Terrans."

"That would make sense. We do call ourselves based on our home planet." said Panaka just as Padmé hear the door open. Looking behind her, she saw Colonel Luna bring in four chairs stacked on top of each other.

"Here you are sir, as requested." the colonel said as he laid them down and started separating them. Padmé, on the other hand, noticed only four chairs while there were five people standing. Bringing it up, Luna laughed. "Ma'am, Spartan armor weighs about 900 kilograms. Him sitting on this is like is like me sitting on a paper chair."

Padmé, however, noted the usage of kilograms. "Colonel Luna, how long is a foot in inches?" she asked.

Before Luna could reply, Serina butted in. "Queen Amidala, this galaxy's measurement system is nearly the same as ours, so no need to ask."

With that over, everyone sat down to continue the discussion. "Now, I know you are wondering why I sent Colonel Luna with us." Cutter began. "Since he is the overall commander of soldiers here inside the _Spirit_ , I saw fit that he be the one to assign who should come with you. Colonel, what do you recommend?"

Luna scratched his chin and was about to speak when Ellen spoke first. "I would like to join this team, Captain. I'm pulling rank as an ONI Consultant."

Luna looked at the scientist from head to toe. "You ONI, prof?" he asked, getting a nod from her. "Figures." he said, shrugging. "Better her than someone wet behind the ears."

Padmé and the ones seated beside her looked at Serina for explanation. She had earlier mentioned that most UNSC Humans – or Terrans – liked to use a lot of words with a figurative meaning. Seeing the look, Serina explained "Someone with little to none experience."

Padmé saw Qui-Gon frown. "How could a scientist have experience?"

Luna looked at the Jedi with a humorous expression. "What did 'ya expect her to be, a geeky scientist who's stuck in a lab doing only experiments? It would be a complete waste of talent if she did that. I've read the report given to me during her time on the ground. She's more than capable than that, took down a couple of Elites and Grunts from what I've read."

Cutter then coughed, drawing the attention to him while Ellen blushed from the praise. "Well, compliments aside, Anders' in for this one. Who else would you add?"

"I'm suggesting the Spartan. He should go while the other two should stay. She is technically ONI personnel and must be protected." Luna explained. "Well, with two volunteers, I'm putting in two more soldiers although I not sure who should I put."

"Is it because of the xenophobia your men are experience?" Padmé asked. They had already been informed of UNSC's apparent xenophobia but from what she heard, Padmé thought the hatred is much more deeper than that.

Cutter and Luna nodded in reply. "Try fighting a war for five years straight against a highly advance multi-alien group with only your will and determination." Luna asked rhetorically to his audience. "Our victories on the ground were balanced by the losses we suffered in space. We had to sacrifice a lot of good men and women just for a massive victory. Just like how we had to sacrifice my best man and our slipspace drive just to buy Earth more time to fight back."

Silence followed after Luna finished his sentence. Knowing her galaxy's history, Padmé thought the Mandalorian Wars were by far the most brutal fighting she has heard. And her she was, sitting in front of—

"You know, as much as I find this sad…it's annoying." Serina suddenly interjected in an unamused tone, surprising everyone who failed to notice that the AI was still there.

Ellen glared at the AI. "You're a ray of sunshine, aren't you?" the scientist remarked sarcastically. "What do you want?"

Serina smiled naughtily. "I may have some perfect candidates…" she said cryptically as a holographic screen presented itself in front of them. "This was a few minutes after Colonel Luna left the hanger."

As everyone looked at the screen, Padmé feel tension between her entourage and the soldiers there as both were separated by a wide gap with Major Singh and Obi-Wan in the middle. Their greeters were clumped into two groups, one was dressed like Colonel Luna and the other was dressed like Major Singh. Major Singh was talking with Obi-Wan but it was clear both were unsure of each other. Meanwhile, the Nubian entourage were near the ship, unsure how to interact with the Terrans.

What caught the Queen's eyes was Sabé. She was with R2 and looked like they were conversing with Serina, clad in different attire. From her body language, Padmé knew Sabé was in a deep conversation with the Serina-lookalike along with R2. _Well, at least she's following my order,_ Padmé thought.

The screen then focused onto two people wearing something similar to the Major. One was standing up and leaning on the wall while the other one was sitting on a couple of metal boxes.

"—ould I even go sarge?" said a gruff yet feminine voice, startling the three of them. The other, on the other hand, didn't seem phased and continued watching.

"ODST helmets have comm for personal contact." Luna explained once he saw the confused looks of Padmé before motioning them to be quiet.

"Look, she's a woman and you're a woman. You'll hit off pretty nicely. She's even talking to the AI and…that whistling…robo-thingymajig." a fruity manly voice replied. The one sitting looked at the one standing and titled its head.

"Really, sarge, really…" the feminine voice drawled.

"What?" the one standing replied along with the appropriate hand gestures.

The woman shook her head. "Shouldn't you be the one doing this? I mean, you're the friendly one among us Helljumpers, remember?"

The man shrugged. "You're the outgoing one, Anya." he said, pointing at the seated woman. "Plus, I'm your boss right?"

The woman looked at the sarge for a few seconds and then stood up. Sarge then gave a shooing motion at the woman, who promptly snatched his hand the started dragging him towards Sabé and R2. The screen then showed the entire hanger again and Padmé saw everyone was now looking at the two as they head towards Sabé. Obi-Wan looked like he wanted to do something but Singh prevented him, telling him some inaudible words which made the Jedi relax.

The view then switched to the view of the Serina-lookalike (Serina told everyone her name was Sights). Sabé (R2 was hidden from their view) looked at the coming figures and looked startled. A soft chuckle was heard and the screen moved from left to right repeatedly. "Don't worry," said a voice that sounded like Anya's but only a bit higher. "They only want to introduce themselves and talk to you. Look on the bright side, at least you're interacting with _real_ UNSC personnel like what your Queen asked you."

Panaka and Cutter gave Padmé a questioning look but she mouthed _Later_. Tuning back in, she saw Sabé biting her lips and nodded nervously as the two reached them. Anya gave a small wave at Sabé and then removed her helmet, revealing a young female face with short chestnut brown hair.

"Hi there, name's Lance Corporal Anya Reznov of the 50th ODST Battalion. Pleasure to meet you!" she greeted happily, offering her hand to the handmaiden.

Sabé slowly gave Anya a handshake and replied "My name is Sabé, handmaiden of Queen Amidala."

Anya nodded slowly and looked like she wanted to ask more. Looking at her right, she gave Sarge a hard nudge that obviously caused pain. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?" Sarge asked, rubbing the bruised area

Sabé giggled while Anya gave Sarge a deadpanned look. "Go introduce yourself, Sarge!" Anya whispered-yelled angrily, "I didn't drag you here just for me to introduced myself!"

Sarge was silent before removing his helmet, revealing an lightly toned, grumpy face (that was glaring at Anya, who remained smug) with short jet black hair. Tucking his helmet under his left arm, he offered his right hand for a handshake. "Name's Sergeant Clive Lars, 50th ODST Battalion, Fireteam Charlie's leader." he said in a tender tone with a gentle, friendly smile.

The screen quickly shut off and everyone looked at Serina. "So what do you think of my suggestions?" she asked, a bright smile on her blueish face.

* * *

 **Up Next:**

 _ **ACT 1 | Part 4: Fun in the Desert**_

* * *

Character Visualization:

John Arcilla as Colonel Antonio Luna

Shahid Kapoor as Major Raj Singh

Keira Knightley as Sabé

Lily Collins as Doctor Abigail 'Abby' Alton

John Shepard (Mass Effect 3) as Senior Chief Petty Officer Spartan-092

Anya Stroud (Gears of War 3) as Lance Corporal Anya Reznov

Nathan Drake (Uncharted 4) as Sergeant Clive Lars

* * *

 ** _UPDATED 02/05/2017_**


	4. Act 1 Part 4

Disclaimer: _I don't own Halo Universe as well as the Star Wars Universe._

 **FROM THE IMAGINATIVE MIND OF PINOY GAMER**

 **IN COLLABORATION WITH [ENTER TEXT HERE PRODUCTIONS]**

 **PRESENTS**

 **THE TERRAN VARIABLE**

 **Summary:** The plan was set, the Father knew that. Its uncaring son, the Dark Side of the Force, has finally found a way to tip the balance in its favor – even though it took millenniums to make. Its Daughter, the positive Light Side of the Force, knew this and tried to counter it by creating a champion to defeat her brother's plan to rule. Father, however, knew it was not enough as it has seen the future – in fact, all of them did but there interpretations were different. The Son saw the future with him at its helm, the Daughter saw her champion finally removing the darkness that encroached into the lives of everyone, and Father…well, the Grey saw lives, bonds, and life in general suffer massively. It needed to act – after all, it was just as appropriate to ensure that the balance of power was kept among the three. Strong in the Force it was, Father found the perfect opportunity – yet knowing fully well the consequence it will bring to the galaxies beyond.

* * *

ACT 1 | Part 4: Fun in the Desert Planet (September 2560 | 33 BBY)

 _How did I get here in the first place again?_ Sergeant Clive Lars thought as he stood in the cockpit of the descending vessel, admiring the view of the desert planet in front of him. _Oh yeah, now I remember!_

He recalled that along with his 2IC, Lance Corporal Anya Reznov, he (or rather, Anya forced him to) started a conversation with the Nubian handmaid named Sabé. Both of them were just curious to whom these newcomers were…and Clive wanted Anya to interact with someone feminine. Seriously, the 50th ODST Battalion only had one girl – and that was Anya! His 2IC was already friends with nearly all the female marines onboard the _Spirit_ and started branching out to the crew members but because of the small men-to-women ratio they had, Clive could just count all her friends with two hands – and that was excluding the crew members. Talk about gender equality.

Anyway, he and Anya soon found out about from Sabé the story of her planet: how one galactic corporation (run by aliens nonetheless) laid siege over Sabé's home planet over a single petty tax law. The two just stared at the Nubian as if she grew a second head as they _did not_ fully comprehend what she just told them before Anya threw a fit. Needless to say, the tension between the two groups disappeared and the Terrans – the term (as informed to them by Sights) used to differentiate the Milky Way Humans and… _Whatever the name of this galaxy humans._ Clive assumed wryly – warmed up to the visitors immediately.

The Nubians, on the other hand, were confused why UNSC still used projectile weaponry or 'slugthrowers' (as they call it). Apparently, they and their fellow species (Clive still couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of a galaxy full of aliens _and_ humans) used laser weaponry (called blasters, whatever the hell they were), considering slugthrowers to be weak. That thinking, however, quickly went out of the window the moment a Marine pointed out 'laser burn stuff, bullets can literally tear things apart – painfully', causing the Nubians to look at them with fear (he could still laugh at the expressions of the Nubians when they heard it). Other than that, the Nubians quickly understood the Terrans.

"A credit for your thoughts?" asked someone behind him, startling Clive. Turning around, the 35 year old ODST saw it was that mysterious and serious hippie-looking dude, Qui-Gon Jinn. Aside from humans coexisting with aliens, there was this so-called 'order' of galactic knights called the Jedi Order. They had these weird yet cool telepathic powers like mind reading, levitation and whatnots (he and the others didn't believed it until Qui-Gon's apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi levitated a crate in the hanger of the _Spirit_ ). They were tasked to maintain the peace and order in this galaxy and were rumored (according to a Nubian engineer he talked with) to number about a million or so.

"Oh, you know…" Clive replied slowly, gesturing everything around him. "How I was dragged into this mission."

Indeed, Clive was surprised that he was being asked to lead an escorting duty slash search mission (the only thing he did was start a conversation with a Nubian, for Pete's sake!). He was to lead a team that would ensure the safety of their newfound ally, Queen Amidala, and at the same time, triangulate the location of a broken UNSC signal the _Spirit_ picked up earlier – and if possible, translate it. Clive, along with Spartan Senior Chief Petty Officer Sierra-092 and Private Seo-Jun Lee, were to provide security to ONI Civilian Consultant Professor Ellen Anders and one of Serina's clones as they traveled to Coruscant.

Qui-Gon nodded, understanding what Clive meant. The Jedi was, after all, there when the order was given. "You seem confused and feeling out of place, may I ask why?"

Clive raised an eyebrow, wondering how Jedi Jinn (a nickname he gave the older Jedi) figure out he was thinking. "You read my mind?" he asked jokingly.

Qui-Gon chuckled heartily – a rare occurrence in the stoic Jedi. Seriously, the two Jedi act as if they have little to no emotion (although they do joke from time to time). "I wouldn't call it 'mind reading' per se. More like…'emotion reading'." he replied, a friendly smile flashing on his face.

The ODST sergeant snorted before looking at the cockpit's windows. "Yeah, you could say that. I mean, I am literally out of place in this galaxy. As for feeling confused…well, I still can't fathom the idea of aliens and humans living together. No offense, but to me, 'the only good alien is a dead one'. Jar Jar basically shows why I believe in it." he said half-jokingly.

"None taken," Qui-Gon assured, before motioning the Helljumper to following him. "I have compassion to all living things. I simply could not leave Jar Jar, a clumsy fellow, to face harsh punishment for his accidents."

Clive just nodded in reply, having heard the Gungan's back story a few hours earlier. Even though Jar Jar Binks was an alien, one mustn't be punish simply for being clumsy. Snapping out of his thoughts, both of then stopped at the tech station and looked at Obi-Wan as he inspected this galaxy's version of a slip space drive. "The hyperdrive generator's gone master." the auburn-haired man said to them.

"Shame…" replied Clive as he started inspecting the generator. "Hey, you think we can keep it? We might learn a thing or two from it."

"Ask Panaka first but I don't think he would mind," Obi-Wan answered, standing up and dusting his pants. "It's good for scraps already."

"That'll complicate things. Be wary…I sense a disturbance in the Force." warned Qui-Gon to his apprentice.

Obi-Wan nodded gravely. "I feel it also, Master."

Feeling out of place, Clive looked at the two and asked "What'd you mean 'disturbance in the Force'? And what is this Force?"

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan looked at each other and looked like they – Clive won't be surprised if they actually did it – were having a telepathic conversation. "The Force is made up of Midichlorians," Qui-Gon explained slowly as if teaching a young child, "and these Midichlorians are a microscopic lifeform that reside within all living cells. They tell us the will of the Force to the point we can manipulate them. Without them, life will not exist."

Clive stared at the two Jedi, unsure what to say. "So you're telling me that these…'midichlorians' are tiny lifeforms that live in our cells. Through them, you can do those weird ass powers, right." Clive clarified. Getting a nod from the older Jedi, he raised his hands in defeat and sighed. "Jedi Jinn, consider that the second reason why I'm confused right now."

The two Jedi laughed while Clive just shook his head, a smile on his face. _This galaxy is one hell of a mystery,_ Clive thought to himself. "I'll be at the lower deck if you need me," he informed the two once the laughter died down. "I'm going with you, remember that. I just need to get my gear ready."

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

Thirty minutes later, Clive was walking the rocky path towards the settlement called Mos Espa alongside with Jar Jar, the robot-thingy R2-D2, and Qui-Gon. Suddenly, someone behind them shouted "Wait!"

Looking back, he saw it was Captain Panaka and a woman in rough garb walking towards them. Wondering why they were walking towards them, Clive and the rest stopped for them to catch up. The moment they reached the group, Panaka continued "Wait, her highness commands you to take her handmaiden with you."

"No more commands from Her Highness today, Captain. This spaceport is not going to be pleasant." Qui-Gon coolly replied but seemed irritated. No surprise there for Clive, they were technically in unsure territory. The only reason Jar Jar was there because he had something called a 'life debt' to Qui-Gon and R2 was needed to check the hyperdrive they were planning to buy. Clive, on the other hand, was with them to represent UNSC and check out the place.

"I'm gonna side with the Jedi on this one." Clive quipped, agreeing with Qui-Gon. "If things go south, we won't be able to protect everyone."

However, Panaka wasn't one to back down. "The Queen wishes it. She is curious about this planet." he pressed, a stern look on his face.

The two stared at each other until Qui-Gon gave in and eyed the lady in front of them. "This is not a good idea. Stay close to us." he ordered before continuing the walk.

The ODST sighed and gave the two Nubians a look. Depolarizing his visor, he crossed his arms and asked "Padme right?"

The timid girl nodded. "Yes, what is it Sergeant Lars?" she asked curiously.

Quickly unclipping his M6S, he handed it to the handmaiden and said "High Penetration Rounds with muzzle suppressor, seven rounds. Use it wisely." She grabbed it but he didn't let go. "Stay close."

Pocketing his M6, Padmé and Clive started walking and caught up with Qui-Gon as they reached the Tatooine settlement. Although they did pass some dangerous looking people (some purely aliens, others what suspiciously looked like human-alien hybrids), Clive noted majority of the place looked decent enough. He even chuckled as Padme looked around in awe, acting like a tourist on a sightseeing tour. To top it off, Jedi Jinn was giving a running commentary.

"...moisture farms for the most part. Some indigenous tribes and scavengers. The few spaceports like this one are havens for those who do not wish to be found..." he said, pointing out things occasionally. Padme seemed to have mumbled something when Jar Jar slightly panicked.

"Dissen berry, berry bad." the alien muttered before accidentally stepping on a gooey substance on the floor. "Ooooh...icky...icky...goo…"

Chuckling at the alien's antic, Clive carefully sidestepped the gooey substance and continued to follow the rag-tag group in front of him. After a few minutes of walking, they reached what looked like a plaza to Clive. The place was surrounded by stores full of metal parts in front of them that – Clive assumed – were spare parts for ships.

"So…which do we check first?" asked Clive as the group stopped.

Qui-Gon looked about before deciding on the shop. "We'll try one of the smaller dealers," he said before heading towards what looked like a large sand igloo.

Clive shrugged and followed the Jedi. However, he suddenly bumped into someone, making she (Clive was sure it was a woman) stumble and drop whatever she was holding. Out of reflex, he grasped the person's shoulders to steady them. "Hey there, you alright?" he asked, taking his helmet off immediately. "Terribly sorry for not…"

He trailed off, as the young woman looked at him. _Her face…_ Clive thought slowly. "J-Jasmine?" he stuttered, eyes wide open as he continued to stare at the woman's face.

The Jasmine-lookalike looked surprised and tilted her head. "My name's not Jasmine," she said to him in confusion.

 _Of course idiot, she's not Jasmine!_ Clive mentally berated himself before smiling sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that," he said, scratching the back of his head. "You just…looked someone I used to know."

The lady giggled and nodded in understanding. "Well, for future reference," she said, offering her hand. "I'm Shmi, Shmi Skywalker."

Shaking her hand, Clive replied "Clive, Clive Lars."

The two then stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do next. Noticing Shmi was actually carrying something and it was scattered all around them, Clive slowly pointed to the things lying around them. "Uh…I think we should…um, pick these up."

Realizing what Clive was saying, Shmi blushed. "Yeah, I think we should."

The two crouched as they silently picked up the scattered things. Clive stole quick glance to Shmi, noting the slight similarities with Jasmine: Oval-like face, wavy hair, and hell, even her eyes were brown – just like Jasmine. If Clive was to take a guess, her age would be early 30s.

"Spare parts?" Clive asked to break the silence between them, inspecting what looked like a 20th Century Walkman to him.

"More or less. My son has…a knack for building stuff." she replied, getting the Walkman-lookalike from him and dropped it in the basket. "He even created a droid from scratch."

Clive gave her a surprised look. "Really?" he asked, thinking her kid probably built a robot like R2. Getting a nod, he whistled. "Damn…looks like you got a good kid, Shmi."

Shmi's cheek became rosy pink from his compliment. "Thank you," she replied quietly. Silence once again took over before Shmi nervously asked "If you don't mind…who's Jasmine?"

Clive dropped another part into the basket before answering her. "She…was my late wife." he confessed, staring at the distance. "Died at childbirth. Don't take this the wrong way but…she slightly looks like you."

Mouthing an 'O', Shmi gave Clive an understanding nod. Once everything was done and in the basket, the two stood up and nervously looked at each other. "So…" Clive drawled slowly, "I guess this is goodbye, then?"

Shmi gave a small smile and slowly nodded. "It was nice to meet you, Clive." she replied pleasantly. "Goodbye!"

"See you around then!" Clive blurted to Shmi as she started walking…towards wherever she was heading. Shmi looked back at him and giggled, making Clive mentally slap himself. _Idiot, like you're going to see her again!_ Clive thought as he putted his helmet.

He continued to stare at Shmi's retreating figure when a British voice spoke through his internal speakers. "Looks like someone has a crush..."

Rolling his eyes, he slapped the side of his helmet. "Shut up Abby," he muttered to his AI companion, "you don't know anything about love."

A new item mounted on Clive's forearm was an upgraded MC5 Individual Data Net/Terminal. It was a hand-held tactical database system upgraded to hold an AI's data crystal as a way for it to give support to them. The only drawback it had was that the AI – Abby (Serina's clone chosen to accompany them) – could only communicate through TEAMCOM, and since it only had a short range, Clive was the only person Abby could talk to – much to her delight and his annoyance.

"Yes, yes I do." Abby lectured to Clive. "Your heartbeat has hasten when you two were talking, voice pattern suggest that you were nervous, and—"

Clive shut the internal speakers of his helmet and took it off the moment he saw Qui-Gon and R2 exited the huge sand igloo. Making his way towards them, he asked "You found what we needed?"

The Jedi nodded with a frown on his face – then again, there was always a frown on his face whenever Clive looked at him. "Yes but he won't accept our money." he replied as Padmé and Jar Jar joined them. "Let's take a look at the other shops."

As they headed towards another junk shop, Padmé strayed near Clive and asked "Where were you?"

"Outside, why?" he said, shrugging.

Padmé gave him an odd look. "I thought you said stay close? You didn't even go inside?"

Clive looked at her incredulously. "Lady, I was close…relatively anyway. Now come on, let's catch up with Jedi Jinn there and see if we can find what we're looking for." he said, chuckling as he saw the bewildered face of Padmé as they continued walking (although he wasn't sure if it was because of the nickname he gave Qui-Gon or his answer to her question).

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"Well…that sucks," Clive complained as they left the last junk shop in Mos Espa, his helmet under his arm. He took it off as it was hot and Abby was bugging him to wits end about their problem (and what had happened earlier). Turns out, only Watto the Toydarian (the alien owner of the first shop they visited) was the only junk dealer who sold the hyperdrive they needed. Great, aliens have one upped humanity again.

Padmé nodded in agreement as Qui-Gon finished talking to Obi-Wan via his comlink. "All right, I'm sure another solution will present itself. I'll check back later." the Jedi replied before putting it away. Apparently, nothing on board was sufficient enough to pay for the amount this Watto dude was asking for.

Before they could move, Jar Jar grabbed Qui-Gon's arm. "Noah gain...noah gain da beings hereabouts cawazy. Wesa be robbed un crunched!"

Clive snorted (he only got the gist of the message as he still did not fully understand what he called 'Jar Jar Speak') while Qui-Gon stared impassively at the Gungan. "Not likely. We have nothing of value…that's our problem," he informed Jar Jar before he started walking. With nothing else to do, the rest followed the Jedi.

Minutes later, Clive felt something wrong and gripped his MA5B strapped to his back. "Stop," he ordered. Qui-Gon looked at him but then saw something. Following his gaze, Clive finally understood why he felt something wrong: Jar Jar was near a store, being assaulted by a…well, Clive wasn't sure what to call the alien. It was about the height of a grunt, as fat as a jackal, and was walking with his hands.

"Jar Jar, you pain in the ass," muttered Clive as all four of them went to help their companion…although it wasn't needed. Apparently, a young boy stepped in and said a few things to the alien that made the latter leave. _Man, that kid tough._

"Hi!" the boy greeted them cheerfully as they made their way to Jar Jar.

"Hi there," Qui-Gon replied as he helped Jar Jar stand up.

"Your buddy here was about to be turned into orange goo." recounted the lad as he looked to them, "he picked a fight with a Dug. An especially dangerous Dug called Sebulba."

"Mesa haten crunchen. Dat's da last ting mesa wanten!" Jar Jar said defensively.

Rolling his eyes, Clive snapped "Yeah, right!"

"Nevertheless, the boy is right. You were heading for trouble. Thanks, my young friend." Qui-Gon praised the boy. The boy smiled at them (although Clive noticed it was directed more to Padmé, who was surprisingly smiling back).

"But...but...mesa doen nutteen!" Jar Jar exclaimed.

Sighing, Clive rolled his eyes and lightly shoved Jar Jar towards the direction the rest of them (and surprisingly, that young boy as well) went. "Shut up and keep moving Jarhead!"

Catching up with the rest, Clive strayed near the boy as he was slightly intrigued by him (who wouldn't, the kid basically stood up to an adult alien). "Hey kid, what's your name?" he asked.

"Name's Anakin," he replied cheerfully before looking at him. "Are you a pilot?"

Confused on why he would say that, Clive replied "No…what makes you say that?"

Anakin shrugged. "Well, you're wearing something like a jumpsuit some of the pilots around here wear. Plus, you have a helmet with you." he pointed out.

Clive nodded. "Nice observation kid, but I'm a soldier. See the gun behind me? That's what makes me different from pilots." he replied, pointing towards the MA5B strapped on his back.

"Oh…but can you still pilot things?" he asked hopefully, although why Clive did not know.

"Hmmm…you could say that," Clive slowly replied, thinking that riding the trademark ODST Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle is technically – TECHNICALLY – piloting a plane. Looking back, since a drop pod was flying and he could alter the direction of it, it could be considered like flying a plane. "Why'd you ask?"

"I listen to all the traders and starpilots that come by here – and you look just like them so I thought you were one." Anakin explained casually.

Clive just nodded before Anakin suddenly dragged Qui-Gon to what looked like a fruit stand owned by an old lady. "Here, you'll like these pallies...here." said Anakin as he handed each one of them a…whatever it was that he bought for them.

Suddenly, Clive felt the winds around them picking up speed and looked about. He saw majority of the people started packing up there stuff and heading inside other buildings. "Oh, my bones are aching...storm's coming up, Annie. You'd better get home quick." the old lady selling the pallies said to the young boy.

"Sandstorm's coming, ma'am?" Clive guessed politely.

The old lady nodded quickly and started packing her stuff. Anakin looked at them and asked "Do you have a shelter?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "We'll head back to our ship."

"Is it far?"

"It's on the outskirts," Padmé informed him.

Anakin then shook his head. "You'll never reach the outskirts in time; sandstorms are very, very dangerous. Come on! I'll take you to my place." he offered.

Clive looked at Qui-Gon and sighed. "Boy's probably right. I can reach the ship on my own with my helmet here…but with you guys, I'll rather stay put."

Anakin, on the other hand, didn't wait for their answer and grabbed Padmé's hand and led the way, forcing the other four to follow them. Moments later, as the sandy wind started picking up speed, they reached what looked like a townhome-styled area. Upon entering one of them, Anakin shouted "Mom! Mom! I'm home!"

Clive, who was looking about the cozy home, turned around and said "Sorry for intruding…"

However, he trailed off as he was surprised to see Shmi was standing in front of them, a rag in hand. "Clive," she said, startled. "What are you doing here?"

All of a sudden, all eyes were on Clive. "I…um, ah…you see…" he said nervously before pointing at Anakin. "Ask Anakin."

Shmi shifted her gaze from Clive to Anakin, giving him the trademark 'what-did-you-do-this-time' mother look. "These are my friends, Mom."

Clive stifled a laugh. Leave it to a kid to say he's friends with a group of strangers. Suddenly, Anakin looked at him and asked "How did you know my mom?"

"We bumped into each other," Shmi offered, smiling at her son and saving Clive from explaining how they met. Accepting it, Anakin then turned to Padmé and offered to show her his droid (apparently, Shmi wasn't kidding on the droid thing) before dragging her towards his room.

"Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter," Qui-Gon explained to Shmi as Clive made his way towards them.

"He dragged Padmé here, remember?" he said to Qui-Gon before looking at Shmi. "So…we meet again huh," he said sheepishly to Shmi.

She giggled. "It seems so, Clive." she replied before looking back at Qui-Gon. "Would you like some food?" she offered.

"If that is alright with you," Clive said while Qui-Gon gave her something that looked like pills.

"I brought additional food pellets…"

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

Few minutes later, they were eating: Clive was beside Shmi on one side, Anakin and Jar Jar on another, and Padmé and Qui-Gon opposite of each other. Being a gentle man he was, Clive had helped in setting up the dishes as Shmi cooked. Hell, even Jar Jar helped in cooking (Clive would have helped also but since he wasn't part of their galaxy, might as well watch from a far). Currently, Shmi was refilling their cups as they ate porridge-like food (a least to Clive).

Padmé, who was silently eating, unexpectedly asked "Are you a slave too, Shmi?"

Had he not been chewing something, Clive would have just given her a funny look. Sadly, Clive _was_ chewing on something and the moment he heard her question, he started chocking on it. "What kind of question is that?" he asked Padmé (once he could speak again), giving her a bewildered look. Having thought about it, Clive was certain for an advance society, slavery was pro—

"I am," Shmi answered suddenly.

That was unexpected.

"Y-your jo-joking, right?" he stuttered, turning his head to Shmi and waiting for her to say 'NOT'.

Sadly, she just shook her head. "We slaves even have transmitters placed inside our bodies somewhere. Any attempt to escape…"

"...and they blow you up…boom!" finished Anakin, mimicking an explosion with his hands.

Clive just stared at the two, unsure what to do. "Are you kidding me?" he muttered before looking at Qui-Gon. "Jedi Jinn, you guys have got to have some laws here!"

Padmé, sadly, did not eased his nerves. "I even can't believe there is still slavery in the galaxy. The Republic's anti-slavery laws—"

"The Republic doesn't exist out here...we must survive on our own." cut Shmi sorrowfully. The tense feeling, however, was broken when Jar Jar snatched some food using his tongue. Qui-Gon and Padmé both gave the Gungan a dirty look and Clive, wanting to vent his anger, looked at Jar Jar straight in the eye.

"Do that again," he dared, bring out a standard-issue Bowie knife that was strapped to his thigh, "and you're going to be one head shorter."

Inwardly, Clive was smirking as Jar Jar started looking at him in fear (he was, after all, twirling the knife). Noticing everyone was staring at him, he shrugged. "What? I was angry."

"But…but to threaten Jar Jar?" Padmé asked him incredulously.

Clive glared at her. "Lady, I just found out your so-called 'highly advance galaxy' can't even stop slavery. You wanna know something: from the galaxy I come from, we started stamping out slavery even before we had space-faring capabilities and we finally destroyed it during the early days of our space colonization era. Sure, you can have anti-slavery laws but if you want it to stay in effect, you're going to have to force it to go into effect. And the mere fact that your government can't put the laws into effect speaks volumes."

Sighing, Clive ran his hands over his face. He really wanted to jab Qui-Gon as well but if was too pissed off to care. His musings, however, were cut off when Anakin asked "What do you mean 'from the galaxy where I come from'?"

 _Shit,_ inwardly cringed Clive. He didn't mean to slip that particular part. Hell, even before they left the _Spirit_ , Captain Cutter (who did not want to announce UNSC's presence in this galaxy until they've made contact with High Command) informed him of their cover for the trip: they were just some mercenaries who were unlucky enough to get stuck in Naboo during the siege and were shortly hired by the Captain Panaka as additional security for the Queen. Sad to say, Clive messed up big time.

"Ah…you see, um…" Clive began, his mind racing to find an excuse. Sadly, fate seemed to be against him.

"Just go tell them where we come from already!" suddenly blurted Abby as she appeared on the table. Shmi and Anakin were taken aback by the AI's sudden appearance (who wouldn't, she just magically appeared out of nowhere – with the help of R2, of course). "You already slipped once and the kid over here," she pointed towards Anakin (who was now looking at her with awe), "is way too good for his age."

Sighing, Clive looked at Shmi and slowly (and albeit reluctantly) started explaining his story and history (although leaving out the R-18 stuff that usually came along with it), using the plates as an example. Both Qui-Gon and Padmé confirmed his story and once done, both the mother and child looked surprised (although Anakin was more off marveled by the idea of multigalactic travel).

"Whoa…so slavery is really gone in your place! How did you guys do it?" the young boy asked with an awed look on his face.

"With blood, sweat, and tears kid." Clive replied bluntly. "A lot of hu—err Terrans, gave their lives just to ensure slavery ends. It was never fun and games, kid."

Anakin looked down casted. "I'm sorry," he apologized.

Clive smiled and patted the kid's head. "No need kid, we Terrans just remember what they did and continually honor their sacrifices."

"Well, with that out of the way, I'm going!" Abby stated before disappearing from view. Everyone just looked at her weirdly as Clive silently thanked God. With nothing else to do, he went back to eating and the rest following suit.

"Has anybody ever seen a Podrace?" Anakin asked suddenly, discreetly changing the subject. Padmé and Clive just shook their heads.

"They have Podracing on Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous." answered Qui-Gon, apparently slightly knowing more about Podracing.

"I'm the only human who can do it."

"You must have Jedi reflexes if you race Pods."

"You're a Jedi Knight, aren't you?" guessed Anakin, making Clive almost choke on his food again (keyword almost) and Padmé giving Qui-Gon a look.

The table once again fell into silence. "What makes you think that?" countered Qui-Gon, an eyebrow raised.

"I saw your laser sword, only Jedi carry that kind of weapon." Anakin pointed out. Clive, by this point (as everyone else watched the banter), was inwardly wondering how the hell the kid manage to make that kind of connection.

Leaning back and slowly smiling, Qui-Gon countered "Perhaps I killed a Jedi and took it from him."

Alarmed, Clive leaned towards Shmi and muttered "You alright with this?"

Shmi sadly sighed. "Anakin is very…perceptive and mature for his age." she informed him quietly, "he's been exposed to the harsh life at an early age."

Whistling lowly, Clive and Shmi tuned back to the conversation (something about freedom and dreams). "I can see there's no fooling you," Qui-Gon praised. "We're on our way to Coruscant, the central system in the Republic, on a very important mission."

"How did you end up here in the outer rim?" Anakin asked curiously.

"Our ship was damaged, and we're stranded here until we can repair it." Padmé answered. This seemed to have brightened Anakin's expression.

"I can help! I can fix anything!" he boasted proudly, grinning.

Qui-Gon shook his head. "I believe you can, but first we must acquire the parts we need."

Clive scoffed. "Yeah…if we can just find something to trade with."

"These junk dealers must have a weakness of some kind." wondered Padmé sadly.

Shmi, who had been quiet throughout the talk, suggested "Gambling. Everything here revolves around betting on those awful races."

"Podracing..." mused Qui-Gon loudly. "Greed can be a powerful ally…"

Anakin suddenly lit up like a light bulb. "I've built a racer! It's the fastest ever," boasted Anakin with a smile. "There's a big race the day after tomorrow, on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod."

"Anakin! It's dangerous!" reprimanded Shmi sternly. "Watto won't let you—"

"Watto doesn't know I've built it," Anakin cut before turning to Qui-Gon. "You could make him think it's yours, and get him to let me pilot it for you."

As Qui-Gon looked at Shmi, Clive looked at the boy. "Kid, if your mother says it's dangerous, it's dangerous."

"But Mr. Clive, I love it!" he stated indignantly. "The prize money would more than pay for the parts you need!"

"Anakin," Shmi scolded gently.

"Your mother's right." Qui-Gon backed up. "Is there anyone friendly to the Republic who might help us?"

Shaking her head, Shmi said "If there were, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Mom..." Anakin prodded gently. "You said the biggest problem in the universe is nobody helps each other."

Clive stared at the young kid. _Damn kid,_ he thought, _you're smarter than I thought you'd be._

"I'm sure Qui-Gon doesn't want to put your son in danger." assured Padmé comfortingly. "We'll find some other way,"

Shmi shook her head. "No, there is no other way. I may not like it, but...he can help you, like he was meant to help you."

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

As Anakin led the others to inform Watto (who was apparently the owner of the Skywalkers as well), Clive elected to stay behind and help Shmi with the dishes. They stood there silently, Clive washing the dishes and Shmi drying them.

"What's it like?" Shmi suddenly asked, confusing Clive as she looked at him. "I mean, where you came from?" she clarified nervously.

"Oh…um," began Clive. "Depends: the galaxy or the planets?"

Shmi thought for a while. "Planets." she decided. "If it's alright with you, specifically your home planet."

"Then you're in luck," informed Clive happily, "I happen to live in the home world of the Terrans."

Wiping his hands, Clive leaned on the counter. "Earth…probably the most beautiful planet I've been too. I mean, Arcadia and Harvest seem pretty decent but Earth will…well, always be Earth! Even though it has been scared by multiple wars our ancestors started, it always found ways to rebound. If I remember history correctly, we nearly killed our planet around the 21st Century. Anyway, it was mostly covered by water, earning the nickname of 'the blue planet' because when seen in space, it was mostly blue than green.

"If you were to go to the northern and southern most part, it will be covered in ice. Go to the middle portion and you get a desert-like area. However, if you visit the areas slightly above or below the middle, you get white sandy beaches, lush green forest, and grassy fields you can run about." he said, chuckling.

Shmi laughed softly. "What was it like living there?"

Folding his arms, Clive frowned. "I'm not entirely sure. I mean, I grew up in a pretty stable life. My parents owned the largest shipping fleet in UEG and pretty much earned a lot of money from that. I had a shelter life actually but…I really wanted to rebel. I wanted to make may own road and not take the inheritance that my parents wanted to give me."

He chuckled. "Opportunity presented itself to me after I graduated college. The rebellion in our outer colonies – Earth, by then, had around 800 colonized planets – gave me a chance to leave what I would consider a pretty mundane life. Signed up for the Marine Corp to help stomp the rebels in our colonies. Back then, I was a firm believer that Earth should control all its colonies but once I saw the reality of the colonies, I changed my mind immediately.

"I met Jasmine – you know, the girl I mistook you for – during my early years in the Corp and after a few campaigns together, we got married and had a son. Sadly, she died at childbirth." he recounted, sighing. "I sent my son back to my parents for safe keeping – Jasmine gave birth in a warzone and I couldn't care for him there. It got me thinking now, how is Owen?'

"Who's Owen?"

"Oh, he's my son." Clive replied. "I wanted to name him John but Jasmine wanted the name Owen badly – never knew why. Even though I never got to see him, I always sent back video messages and letters for him to keep…if, you know, I die in combat. My parents would always reply as well, keeping me updated on his life. If I think about it, he's probably Anakin's age when I last contacted my parents."

Shmi nodded and they just stood there in silence. "So, what's your story?" Clive asked out of the blue before realizing what he just said. _What to fuck, man!_ he exclaimed mentally, _what was that for?_

Looking at her, he blurted "I mean, I accidentally went from describing Earth to my life story and well, I just got curious about you and Anakin and how—"

Placing her hand on his shoulder, Shmi looked at him and giggled. "It's alright."

"Sorry about that," he replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I ramble when I'm nervous."

Laughing, Shmi made her way to the dining table and sat on one of the chairs, Clive following suit. "Now, where do I begin," Shmi began thoughtfully before launching her story.

Clive listened intently to her life story – her birth 34 years ago, how she was captured by pirates at a young age, how she learned technical skills from one Pi-Lippa, and more – but was mostly staring at her face. He still couldn't help but see the resemblance between her and Jasmine (even though they were just slightly similar): the lightly-toned skin, her wavy chestnut brown hair, the eyes, her sweet laughter, and the way she smiled. It was almost – ALMOST – like seeing Jasmine all over again.

Shmi seemed to have noticed Clive's stare at her, making her stop and blush. "Um…Clive, are you still listening?"

Startled, Clive stammered "Uh, wha…yeah! I, um, just remembered something."

"Was it Jasmine?" she guessed. Clive nodded sheepishly. "Thought so…what was she like? I mean, I just got curious and all!" Shmi added quickly.

"Well…" Clive began, thinking back to what his late wife was like. "She was…kind, polite, and probably had the largest swear word vocabulary in the Marine Corp – I swear!" he exclaimed when Shmi gave him an odd look. "No kidding – she could be a sailor's mouth _anytime_. She was also pretty damn good with vehicles – she would help about in fixing vehicles in the Motor Pool in base camp. She hated, for some reason, porridge. Don't know why, though."

Clive was about to add how she hated cats with a passion when Anakin walked into them, coming back from convincing that Watto dude. "Hey kid, how did it go?" he asked as Qui-Gon and the rest entered.

"He accepted it!" he said cheerfully before looking at the other. "Do you guys want to see the podracer? It's just outside, come on!"

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

The day started out pretty fine as Anakin took his podracer for a test drive in a nearby canyon outside the settlement with all six of them in attendance (R2 and C3PO decided to remain back at the hovel). Throughout the entire test drive, Clive and Shmi started to get to know more about each other to the point that they seemed like childhood friends all these years. By the time they got home, Clive and Shmi knew each other's backstory down to the detail.

Unfortunately, Clive could not sleep. It wasn't because he was sleeping on the floor – he'd done that a lot of times already – no, he couldn't sleep because he couldn't stop thinking about Shmi. Everytime he tried to close his eyes, he would always see her face, laughing about something. Add that to the fact that Queen Amidala was kidnapped and 92 was in pursuit of the kidnappers and has not replied yet because of the daily sand storm Mos Espa and its surrounding area experience, he was very much annoyed and afraid. So much for doing his job.

Thinking of getting some fresh air will clear his mind, he got up (leaving his helmet behind) and went outside. However, turns out he wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep.

Opening the door, Clive saw Shmi sitting on the balcony railing outside the house. "Oh, you're awake," she said, surprised, as she saw him standing there.

"Yeah, couldn't sleep as well." confessed Clive as mounted the railing. They sat there, silently enjoying each other's company. Giving Shmi a quick glance, Clive noticed something bugging her. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Huh?" she replied, giving him a questioning look.

"You seemed…off – you know, as if you can't focus on something."

She sighed and was quiet for a few minutes before looking at him. "I just overheard Qui-Gon talked about…how Anakin has over 20,000 midichlorian count. What does that mean?"

Clive bobbed his shoulders. "I really don't know. I'm just new to this place." he confessed, "however, what _I_ do know is that midichlorians are tiny lifeforms that live in our cells. It's through these midichlorians – according to Jedi Jinn, of course – that the Jedi can have their weird ass powers. Ya know, lifting objects without touching them, reading our emotions, etc."

Shmi digested the information and the two lapsed into comfortable silence again. "So…does that mean my son can…do those stuff?" Shmi pointed out.

Clive shrugged. "Probably," acknowledged Clive. "I'll ask Jedi Jinn about it tomorrow."

The two again lapsed into silence…before an angry sigh interrupted it. "Who was that?" Shmi nervously asked, looking around her.

Clive sighed irately, knowing _exactly_ who it was. "My AI companion," he muttered angrily before showing Shmi his TACPAD. Pressing a button, Abby appeared. "What do you want Abby?" he asked bluntly to the blue British AI Scientist.

Ignoring Clive, Abby turned to Shmi and greeted her. "Hi there! I'm Abby, caveman's AI companion. And you must be Shmi Skywalker," she said sweetly, flashing a cheerful smile. "It's finally nice to put a face to the name – and the face is _quite_ beautiful as well! And here I was thinking Clive here was exaggerating when he described you!" she exclaimed before turning back to him. Giving a small wink, Abby mockingly scolded "You clearly tried to downplay what you told me, mister."

Clive just stared at Abby as if she gone mad. What the hell was she doing? _She's helping you, you idiot!_ a small part of his brain whispered to him but Clive was just way too shock to register it. Currently, Abby was telling Shmi – well, whatever Abby was telling Shmi, they were lies.

"Well then," she exclaimed happily (a bit _too_ happy) as she finished whatever she was telling Shmi. "I best be going now. I'll leave you two lovebirds to your own devices. Bye!" With that, she disappeared and left the two alone.

The two just stared at the TACPAD for a few seconds before looking into each other's eye.

"What…what was that about?" Shmi slowly asked Clive, a confused look on her face.

Clive just stared back at her. "I…I really don't know." he answered before awkwardly looking at Shmi. She just sat there, lost in thought and a troubled look on her face. They just sat there in awkward silence, unsure what they should do next.

Shmi coughed, breaking the tension between them. "Uh…ah," she stammered slowly. "Was…um, that true?"

At first, Clive didn't understand what she was asking when it hit him – Shmi was asking if beautiful. Freezing, Clive mentally tried to calm his nerves as he wasn't sure what to say. The entire situation was like trying to defuse a HAVOK Tactical Nuke with a timer – clip the wrong wire and it blows up in your face.

Thinking that he didn't understand what she asked, Shmi quickly clarified "What I mean to say is—"

"No!" Clive blurted out before realizing it was wrong. "I mean, yes—I mean…argh!"

Groaning, Clive paused to breathe slowly. "What I mean to say is…not everything Abby said was true." he explained slowly, thinking of the right words to say. "I…haven't really…described you to Abby. She…knows about you since…well, she listening to us right now." he said to her, gesturing to his TACPAD.

As if proving his point, the TACPAD squeaked "Am not!"

Shmi giggled as Clive rolled his eyes, placing the TACPAD on the railing. "Proves my point. Anyway…um, yeah, that part was a complete lie – but the part you're quite beautiful is true!" he said hurriedly, adding the last part in case she got the wrong idea.

"Oh…um, thank you." Shmi replied, blushing.

"Yeah…" Clive said awkwardly. They continued sitting there, either looking at the sky or ground. Not long after, Shmi got down from the railing and dusted her pants.

"I'm going back inside now," she told him and Clive gave a quick nod. Suddenly, without him realizing it, Shmi gave a light kiss on his cheek before bolting towards inside her house, leaving him all alone outside.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked to no one in particular.

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"Ye had little faith!" Clive exclaimed happily to Padmé as they surrounded Anakin in the nearly deserted hanger of the Boonta Eve Arena. Padmé had earlier doubted that Anakin could even win the race after Kitster (Anakin's friend) accidentally slipped that the young podracer hadn't even finished a single race. However, Anakin proved her wrong when he finished the (what Clive would later find out as true when he watched it) deadly race. Throughout the entire race, podracers slowly depleted because of crashes, engine failure, dirty tactics, and even a surprise raider attack. Anakin, however, pulled through nearly without a scratch and pulled off two crazy stunts – one when he ended up flying when Sebulba pushed him off course and the other when one of his engines failed in the last leg of the race.

"It's so wonderful, Ani." Shmi said, happily giving her son a kiss on the cheek. Throughout the entire race, Shmi would always gasp whenever something bad happened to Anakin and hugged the closes person near her – who happened to be Clive. Not that he minded but…it was awkward to say the least. They hadn't really had the chance to talk about what had happened last night (everyone noticed that there was tension between the two but nobody asked – for which Clive was thankful for). They avoided each other like a plague but they always ended up interacting in one way or another. "You have brought hope to those who have none. I'm so very proud of you!"

"Great job, Ani!" Jar Jar said in his squeaky boy, lifting the boy as he hugged him.

Once down, Padmé knelt down and hugged him as well. "We owe you everything, Ani." she told him.

Before Padmé could stand, Clive shouted "Say it! Say it! Say it!"

Glaring at him, Padmé added "…and I am sorry for doubting you." She turned to Clive, who was grinning brightly, and said "Happy?"

"Very much!" the ODST admitted, grinning. "That'll show you never to doubt this fine young lad would lose!" Putting the boy in a headlock, he ruffled his head and asked "Well young man, you won the race but you're still dirty! Hey, where's Jedi Jinn?"

"I'm here," a voice said behind them. Looking back, he saw Qui-Gon walking towards them, a small smile on his face. "Congratulations again, Anakin."

"Speak of the devil!" muttered Clive, shaking his head as the Jedi ruffled the kids hair as well. "Oi, Jedi Jinn! What now?"

"Watto will send out the parts and we'll meet up with it as we head back to the ship." he explained.

"And what about the bet earlier?" Clive asked, eyes narrowed at Qui-Gon. Just before the race even started, Qui-Gon tried to bet the freedom of Shmi and Anakin. Unfortunately, Watto wouldn't have any of that as it wasn't worth it – it was either Anakin or Shmi. Leaving it to fate, Watto used a chance cube on who will be freed if Anakin won the race. Having no choice, Qui-Gon had to use the force to put the outcome in his favor. When asked why after Watto left, Qui-Gon told Clive that Anakin had the potential to be a Jedi Knight as his midichlorian count was the highest in any Jedi – making him the most power Jedi should he become one.

"I've won." the Jedi replied evasively. Although Clive didn't understand why Qui-Gon wanted Anakin badly, he let it slide. Now was not the time to discuss religious practices and Clive had a job to do. All he could do now was just sit in the background and watch the events unfold.

"What bet?" Shmi asked, looking at him and Qui-Gon curiously.

"Oh…um, I told Jedi Jinn here that Anakin…would the race unscathed but he told me that was impossible. So I made a bet earlier that if Anakin here wins without a scratch, he's gonna treat my friends and I to a bar in this galaxy but if I lose…I'm gonna treat Jedi Jinn here and his padawan to one of the Terran restaurants." he lied quickly. Clive was leaving it to Qui-Gon to tell Shmi what he did. He was the one who betted it after all.

Shmi nodded and Qui-Gon gave him a quick flash of gratitude. "Well then, I'll head back to the house then Ani." she told her son before heading out of the hanger.

"I'll go as well!" Clive added quickly. He really wanted to talk to Shmi about last night. Not that he minded it but he just wanted to clarify a lot of things as well. "See you later!"

Shmi stiffed when he caught up with her as they left the hanger but didn't comment. They walked in awkward silence all the way to Shmi's house, no one wanting to talk about what had happened last night. However, once they reached the house, Watto was waiting for them outside of it.

Upon seeing them, Watto immediately made a beeline to Shmi and started talking to her in a weird language. The Toydarian seemed to looked apologetic and Shmi seemed confused before nodding and looked grateful. Watto seemed relieved and said other words before leaving. Shmi waved before looking at Clive and quietly said "Thank you."

"Uh…what for?" Clive asked, trying to rack his brains things he did for Shmi and the alien. "I don't remember helping any alien earlier besides Jar Jar and I didn't quite catch what you guys talked."

Shmi just chuckled. "For freeing Anakin. Watto told me about the bet Qui-Gon made with him and he was against the Jedi from taking my son away from me."

Clive blinked owlishly as they entered the house. "Wait, are you telling me that frog face there was trying to prevent Qui-Gon from taking your son?" he asked. When she nodded, he gave a low whistle. "Damn…never thought that I'll live to see the day an alien puts the well-being of a human first before his."

Both of them shared a short laugh before awkwardness settled between them. "Uh…about last night…" Clive began, his hand scratching his head.

Shmi coughed, a blush appearing on her cheeks. "S-sorry about that…don't know why it happened…" she stammered, last part being a whisper.

Clive just nodded before excusing himself to get his helmet and other stuff he left. _Well,_ Clive thought wryly, _that went well._ After getting his stuff, Clive noticed that Shmi was still outside, waiting for him.

"Watto asked me to accompany him towards your starship. Wants me to help him deliver the good but privately, he wants me to have one last moment with Anakin." Shmi explained, noticing Clive's confused looked.

"Oh," was all Clive said as they started walking towards the outskirts of Mos Espa. "Hey, do you want Anakin to leave? I'm just asking and all!"

Giggling, Shmi stopped for a moment as if to contemplating on his words. "Honestly…yes." she said slowly, voice thick with emotion.

Slipping off his helmet, Clive hugged her and gently said "I'm here for you Shmi, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on." With that, Shmi finally loosened up and started crying, tears streaming from her face. They just stood there for five minutes, Clive hugging Shmi as she let her emotions out.

"I'm…I'm sorry about—" Shmi began as she wiped her tears away but Clive shushed her.

"Don't worry, I offered, remember?" Clive said with a cheeky grin. "Come on, the ship's just about there and you can say goodbye to your kid."

They eventually reached the ship before Qui-Gon arrived with the ship parts. Clive noticed an attentive Private Seo-Jun Lee, the Korean member of the UNSC team, near the ship's ramp with a M247 General Purpose Machine Gun mounted and positioned in front of the makeshift barricade near the ramp. Nubian personnel and (shockingly) two handmaidens wielding weapons were walking around as they patrolled the area.

"You guys expecting an assault?" Clive asked jokingly as Seo ran forward to meet him as he and Shmi neared the ship. The Korean stopped in front of them and removed his helmet, revealing a face reminisce of past K-Pop stars and buzz cut hair.

"Unfortunately, yeah." Seo said with a hint of accent. "After what happened yesterday, Captain Panaka wasn't taking any chances. Plus, Spartan-092 still hasn't contacted us yet. Who's the lady?"

"Shmi, meet Private Seo-Jun Lee." the sergeant introduced to Shmi. "Private Lee, meet Shmi Skywalker. She's the one who helped us get the hyperdrive for the ship so be nice."

Seo chuckled before offering his hand. "Nice to meet you ma'am." he said as Shmi shook his hand. The three of them resumed walking as Seo gave a full report on what had happened yesterday.

"Everything was fine around…1400 hours when we started hearing shouting outside the ship. I was with 92 and the Jedi when an alien came running up the ship's ramp. Thinking quickly, I shot it and the other two immediately ran outside, as the queen was inspecting the outside. I followed quickly after informing Dr. Anders and the captain of the situation. By the time I got out, three Nubians were wounded and majority of the aliens were dead, thanks to the Spartan's efforts." Seo informed as they reached the ramp, just as Captain Panaka walked down from it. "However, one of the aliens manage to capture Queen Amidala and left before any of us could stop them. Upon seeing the departure of alien convoy, 92 called me before running after the convoy."

Clive looked to Panaka for confirmation, getting a nod from the Nubian Captain. "I do hope your Spartan manage to rescue the Queen, Sergeant Lars. Naboo is banking on her to free our planet." he stated seriously before looking behind him. "Where are the others?"

"They'll be here in a few minutes." Clive replied as he looked at his watch before chuckling. "Don't worry Panaka, Spartans never a fail a mission."

Panaka looked like he wanted to say a few more things but couldn't when a young boy's voice shouted "Mom, I'm being freed by Watto!"

Clive turned backed and saw Anakin running towards his mom with a big smile on his face. Farther back, two Eopies were dragging what looked like an engine and other supplies. In front of the creatures were Qui-Gon, Padme, Jar Jar, Anakin's C-3PO and Watto, who seemed to be talking to the Jedi about something.

"Has the Queen returned yet?" Padmé asked immediately, worry in her face once the entourage stopped in front of them.

Panaka shook his head. "Sergeant Lars, however, has said that the Spartan never fails a mission so be rest assured the Queen is safe."

Padmé nodded before looking back at Clive. "I forgot," she said, pulling out his sidearm. "I believe I am no longer need your weapon, sergeant."

Taking it, Clive just shrugged. "Eh, well…one can never be too sure. Who knows—"

However, a loud explosion cut off what Clive wanted to say. By pure instinct, Clive immediately dove for cover, taking Shmi and Anakin down with him near a massive rock near the ramp (they were civilians, of course). Seo, on the other hand, pushed Panaka and Padmé down the floor before manning the M247 and started firing towards the dunes, just as Clive started hearing someone firing at them. Peeking over his cover, Clive saw at least two dozen robocops heading towards them, raining laser bolts at them. Grabbing his MA5B, he started shooting the robots just as the rest of the patrols around the ship fought back.

Just then, a large rock hurled towards Qui-Gon, who was defending the hyperdrive from the lasers of the robots. Forced to abandon it, Qui-Gon jumped aside as Clive helplessly saw the rock crush the hyperdrive. Turning towards where the object came from, Clive almost dropped his weapon as he saw who had caused the object to destroy the hyperdrive.

It was the devil.

* * *

 **Up Next:**

 _ **ACT 1 | Part 5: A Spartan Perspective**_

* * *

Character Visualization:

Jar Jar Binks (Episode 1) as Jar Jar Binks

Elena Fisher (Uncharted) as Shmi Skywalker

Watto (Episode 1) as Watto

Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker

Seo Dae-young (Descendants of the Sun) as Private Seo-Jun Lee

* * *

 ** _UPDATED 02/05/2017_**


	5. Act 1 Part 5

Disclaimer: _I don't own Halo Universe as well as the Star Wars Universe._

 **FROM THE IMAGINATIVE MIND OF PINOY GAMER**

 **IN COLLABORATION WITH [ENTER TEXT HERE PRODUCTIONS]**

 **PRESENTS**

 **THE TERRAN VARIABLE**

Summary: The plan was set, the Father knew that. Its uncaring Son, the Dark Side of the Force, has finally found a way to tip the balance in its favor – even though it took millenniums to make. Its Daughter, the positive Light Side of the Force, knew this and tried to counter it by creating a champion to defeat her brother's plan to rule. Father, however, knew it was not enough as it has seen the future – in fact, all of them did but there interpretations were different. The Son saw the future with him at its helm, the Daughter saw her champion finally removing the darkness that encroached into the lives of everyone, and Father…well, the Grey saw lives, bonds, and life in general suffer massively. It needed to act – after all, it was just as appropriate to ensure that the balance of power was kept among the three. Strong in the Force it was, Father found the perfect opportunity – yet knowing fully well the consequence it will bring to the galaxies beyond.

* * *

ACT 1 | Part 5: A SPARTAN Perspective (September 2560 | 33 BBY)

"You do realize one laser shot takes a tenth of your shield, right?"

Senior Chief Petty Officer Jerome-092 just grunted as bolts of laser hit the rock he was hiding behind. In front of him, three aliens were shooting red laser bolts as they hid behind their destroyed flying car.

Jerome internally sighed, he was hoping that the mission would have little to no action at all. Contrary to popular Marine belief, Spartan-IIs do enjoy leisure time and make the best out of it. His Spartan-II brother, Jorge, had slept for three days straight after a long term mission while his teammate Alice spent that time reading classic novels. He was already relaxed (by Spartan-II standards) by the time they reached the desert planet Tatooine and had slightly gotten to know his team mates better.

Once they landed, Sergeant Clive Lars left with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn to check out the settlement and look for a replacement for the Nubian's hyperdrive (the FTL version of this galaxy) engine. However, a day after they left, alien slavers (Jerome heard one of the Nubian engineers call one of them) suddenly attacked the ship. Springing to action, they retook the ship with little casualties on their side but by the time they did, the aliens took someone expensive to sell: Queen Amidala.

Right now, Jerome was in the midst of pursuing them and the aliens in front of him were starting to get annoying. _Time to end this,_ Jerome thought as he vaulted over the rock and entered the fabled Spartan Time – a heightened reaction time given to all SPARTAN-IIs during their augmentations. Everything around him slowed down as he aimed and fired three consecutive shots at his enemies with his M6S while successfully dodging their returning fire. His enemies, on the other hand, were not so lucky as the three shots fired by Jerome hit their targets squarely in the head.

As time returned to normalcy, Jerome quickly maglocked the pistol to his thigh before asking "Where did they headed, Abby?"

"Just keeping running forward and follow the waypoint I set up." replied a female British voice on his internal speaker. "Also, winds are slowly picking up, signaling a sand storm. If I were you…I'll run faster."

"Noted." With that, Jerome started running across the Sahara-like dunes. Though he wasn't as fast as his Spartan sister Kelly's running speed, he was fast enough to catch up his prey – who, by then, was about 10 kilometers away from his last stop over.

"Wow…I heard from Ellen you guys were fast but I didn't expect you guys to be _this_ fast!" quipped Abby, whistling lowly. "Were going around 20 mph!"

Jerome ignored it as he focused on his task: catch up with the slavers and rescue the queen. The dunes across Tatooine were both a hindrance and a blessing to him. While they did slow him down, it allowed him to mask his approach towards the waypoint. Slowing down before a dune between him and the slavers, Jerome made his way to the top and covertly crawled to get a better look at his enemies.

In front of his cover was a long vessel that looked like a large sledgehammer with rockets at its lower half. Along the middle, it widened enough to allow pod-like appendages with cannons to stick on the sides, two turrets on the top and bottom part near the hammer-shaped cockpit, and one satellite dish on the dorsal side on the vessel near the rockets. The length was around three Warthogs bumper-to-bumper and had a black, gold, and red paint job.

Taking note that there were only ten people near the ship, Jerome removed the BR55 maglocked to his back and linked his helmet with the scope, mentally calculating the hastening wind speed.

"You do realized that they're ten and you're just one, right?" Abby asked, amused.

"That's bad for them." Jerome replied as he aligned the crosshair to the head of one of the slavers, who was holding a pistol-like weapon on his hand while arguing with another, who had the Queen in the arm. The rest of them were circled around them, weapons out and looking around with suspicion.

"How so?"

Jerome's answer was firing his BR55 with high precision, immediately blowing up the heads of the three arguing aliens. The shock allowed Jerome to kill two more before the rest ran for cover. One tried to shoot Amidala, who was left on the floor after her dead captor fell down, but never got the chance as Jerome shot him twice. The smart ones, on the other hand, took cover and started firing at his position.

Around the same time the queen ran for cover, Jerome jumped out of his cover before sliding down the dune ,firing at the kidnappers while priming a grenade. Once he was down the dune, Jerome threw it near the flying car while keeping the slavers down with cover fire, killing the three behind it once it exploded.

The last one, fearing for its life, tried to run towards the vessel's ramp. However, it never got there in time as Jerome shot it in the back of the head. Everything was silent afterwards, save for the crackling sounds created by the destroyed car and the howling winds. Walking calmly towards the Queen and offering his hand, Jerome loudly asked "Are you alright ma'am?"

Amidala nodded slowly and grabbed Jerome's hand to help her up. Suddenly, Abby's voice spoke through the external speakers of his armor.

"You're not Queen Amidala."

Jerome frowned at Abby's accusation but noticed the Queen slightly stiffing up. "Of course I am the Queen, how dare you accuse me!" she said with regal anger. However, Jerome wouldn't have been a Spartan-II if he didn't notice the slight wavering tone of the Queen while the Tatooinian winds started howling.

"Nope, you're not." Abby countered and Jerome could already imagine the hard look Abby was giving. "Your heart rate is completely different from the Queen's and your tone of voice doesn't match hers either – I can tell, mind you, even if the difference is around a hundredth of a decibel."

"You also stiffened up when she accused you," added Jerome, loudly enough to be heard over the roaring winds around them. "And I heard a slight waver in your voice. You're lying to us, ma'am. So where's the real one?" he asked, bring up his weapon slowly.

Amidala – or rather the fake Amidala – glanced around her as the sand storm around them hastened up. "The original Amidala is with the Master Jedi." she shouted, fear in her voice. "I'm her body double, in case something like this happens. I'll explain more but can we please enter the ship first?"

"She's telling the truth this time, big boy." Abby privately said to Jerome, the Spartan-II still staring at the body double. With a nod, Jerome slowly lowered his weapon.

"I believe you," Jerome announced loudly, making the fake Amidala to sigh in relief. "…for the meantime only. Stay behind me as I check the ship and no weapons." Jerome ordered when the woman tried to reach for one of the alien pistols.

"Then how am I supposed to cover you?" she shouted but Jerome never replied as he started heading towards the ship. Keeping the BR55 up, Jerome slowly walked up the opened ramp and entered it.

Noticing a nearby terminal glowing darkly in the room, Jerome asked "Abby, can you connect to the ship?"

"I can wirelessly. Want me to do a sweep?" her voice replied.

"Check the whole thing and close the ramp from the storm rampaging outside."

"Got it sir!" was her replied before the lights turned on, revealing a large, grey cargo hold filled with metallic boxes. Something then bumped Jerome behind, causing him to quickly turn and try to punch the unseen figure, stopping midway when it was the body double.

"I think someone's inside the ship!" she whispered frantically to Jerome, motioning towards the closing ramp.

Shaking his head, Jerome maglocked his BR55 on his back before removing his helmet. "No, Abby just turned the system back online. She's in command of the ship."

As if on cue, the ship's speakers blared to life. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome aboard the newly christened _UNSC Mjolnir_!"

"See what I mean?" Jerome told the dumbfounded woman before looking at the TACPAD on his left arm. "Abby, is there any room we can talk?"

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"So…you mean to say that the real Queen is with Sergeant Clive just because she wanted to visit the settlement?" Abby asked doubtingly to the Queen's body double, Sabé, after she explained why she was masquerading as Queen Amidala. The three of them were inside a state room of the hammer-like vessel they had captured. Sabé nodded sadly, making Jerome realize that her giving up this information pained her.

Abby crossed her arms as she was projected on the room's holotable and turned to Jerome. "I believe I can raise Sergeant Lars from the ship. We can inform him of—"

"No!" Sabé interjected quickly. "You can't! This secret must not spread. Only Captain Panaka, my fellow handmaidens and the Queen herself know about these body doubles. We act as decoys for the real Queen whenever—"

"Relax Sabé, Greenie and I fully understand your job." Abby reassured gently before turning to Jerome. "So, Big Guy, what you plan to do?"

Jerome just stared at Sabé, analyzing her. In a quick glance, she really looked like Queen Amidala but if you look closely, she was a bit smaller than Amidala and had a more lighter complexion. Making a decision, Jerome crossed his arms and turned to Abby. "We'll keep it a secret for now but once we encounter the UNSC, HIGHCOMM will be informed of your secret."

Sabé just nodded. "Just as long as it's a need-to-know then we're good." the handmaiden requested before smiling shyly at the veteran Spartan-II. "I'll prepare us some food. I think it is the least I could do for you after saving me."

Jerome absently nodded as he continued to stare at the ship's hologram, not speaking until Sabé left. "Abby, can you contact anybody?"

Abby shook her head. "I was just joking around earlier. The winds outside are interfering with the frequencies to even raise a signal. Plus, I don't know how to connect with the planet's comm array. You're just going to have to wait for the storm to die down before you try anything."

"Can you fly the ship?" Jerome asked, making Abby smirk.

"Been doing simulations about this hammer since I boarded although I can't fly her outright. Apparently, the ship was made to be piloted by _humans_ only so I'm stuck with theoretical flying. Right now…I'm testing out the speed against all known vessels from our galaxy and let me tell you, this baby's good!" Abby replied with a grin.

Jerome nodded before asking "Weapon systems?"

Abby chuckled. "Against Seraphs and Banshees, this baby can hold on. Against any of our ships…nope – and that goes the same with the Covenants. The ship's turrets can hit only those with little to no shielding. However, what it can't destroy can simply outrun it – and that goes for the big ones."

"It's basically a lightly armed prowler in other words." Jerome guessed, getting a nod from Abby.

"Got that right!" she exclaimed with a grin. "This baby is so small it so agile and fast. According to my stats, this baby can reach the speeds of 590 miles per hour – basically outrunning most of our Longswords!"

"Anything else?"

Abby shrugged. "I'm still trying to decipher the written language here, since I can't read any of the ship's manual. Their letters look like Egyptian hieroglyphics in a modern way." she told Jerome before letting it appear on the holotable. Upon seeing it, Jerome inclined to agree: nearly the entire thing looked like modernized hieroglyphics with an exception of one, which looked like a Russian letter.

"We can ask Sabé what they mean," suggested Jerome. "She can probably help you create a translator for us to use."

"Yeah, you're right." Abby agreed, nodding her head. "After dinner, I'll ask her. On the other hand, why don't you check the ship? I'll be busy for the next few hours. I'm gonna try and learn things about the lasers of this ship via simulations. Bye!"

With that, Jerome was left with his thoughts in the state room, staring at the hologram of the CR90 Abby left for him to look at. Removing his helmet, Jerome placed the it on the state room's table and sighed. _God, I miss the others._ Jerome sadly reflected.

The only time he ever felt that he had a family was when he was with the other members of the Spartan-II Program. He gave very little love to his original parents as they never were good ones to begin with. His father had been a drug dealer while his mother was nothing more than a woman for sale. When ONI finally kidnapped him, they were surprised that he went with them willingly – even giving them help in placing his body double back on the bed.

Afterwards, joining the Spartan-II program was the best point in his life. There, he finally had what he was looking for: a sense of belonging. He whole heartedly abandoned his last name for his new ID number, bonded with his fellow Spartans to the point of brother and sisterhood, and became inseparable from Alice and Douglas. His time in Minister as a street kid quickly enabled him to steadily but surely rise among the other Spartan-IIs as one of the emerging leaders of the program, alongside John, Fred, and Kurt.

"Uh…Spartan-092, food's ready." a voice said after the state door opened. Looking behind him, Jerome saw it was Sabé holding a tray with two plates of what looked like crepe and a blue drink.

"What's this?" Jerome asked he took his meal. When she didn't reply, Jerome looked up and noticed she was looking surprised. "You okay?"

Blinking twice, Sabé blushed and bit her lips. "S-sorry. It's…it's just…your face is…"

"So pale?" Jerome asked. Jerome was used to the stares given to him and his fellow Spartan-IIs whenever they had their helmets off. They really couldn't help it; they always wore their armor to the point it felt like it was their second skin. When she nodded, Jerome chuckled. "Don't worry, I get that a lot."

Sabé set her plate before sitting down across him. "Why are you so…pale? Is it because of the armor?"

Jerome just nodded as he took a bite from his meal and taking a sip from the cup. "This is good! What are they?"

Sabé smiled as she ate. "Dustcrepe and Blue Milk…well, that's what the boxes told me." she answered before taking another sip. "You're right, this _is_ good!"

Jerome just grunted before they ate in relative silence again. "Why did you guys have to have body doubles?" Jerome then asked, trying to find out more information regarding the protection detail

"Panaka wanted it to play it safe. He had just recently replaced his predecessor, Captain Maris Magneta, after the late King Ars Veruna died under mysterious circumstances. " Sabé replied, taking a sip from her drink. "Panaka insisted that the new queen be trained in self-defense and weapons usage along with her Handmaidens, who became her fallback bodyguards, decoys, and sometimes, her friends."

Jerome nodded. "That's a sound plan." he said curtly.

"It is…but it has its drawbacks." she replied, sighing. "I was always in danger of making a slip up that would ruin the charade and I always had to seek approval from Padmé." When Jerome raised his eyebrows, she explained "Padmé and I developed a set of signs while we were switched."

Jerome nodded, having understood what she was saying. His Spartans siblings had developed a series of hand signs that they use to communicate, whether for the mission or just plain interaction.

Sabé, still looking at him, said "You're not much of a talker are you?"

Before Jerome could reply, Abby appeared and answered for him. "Yup! Apparently, that was how they were conditioned…for so Ellen tells me." the AI said cheerfully. "Anyway, I kind of need your help Sabé. Can you help me translate your written language?"

"You guys don't know how to read Aurebesh?" Sabé asked, a confused look on her face. When Abby shook her head, Sabé became intrigued. "Then how come when we received you history, it was already written in it?"

Abby's holographic eyes suddenly widened as if realizing something. "Serina…" she hissed.

"What did Serina do this time?" Jerome then asked, wondering what annoyed the AI.

Face palming, Abby replied "Serina managed to crack their language when she first contacted them. How she did it, I don't know but one thing is for sure: she knows their language and she didn't even tell me!"

Sabé looked thoughtful. "Probably she had a lot of things on her mind?" she suggested.

Abby shook her head. "No. UNSC AIs can multitask up to a billion things and still remain focused on each of them but I wonder if…" Abby trailed off, entering a thinking pose.

"Abby," Jerome asked in a curt manner, looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

Abby waved her hand. "It's…it's nothing." she said dismissively before turning to the handmaiden. "Anyway, can you help me translate your language?"

Jerome looked at Abby in a suspicious manner but decided to let it go, letting the AI learn from the Nubian how to read the galactic standard.

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

After eating his dinner, Jerome left the two (who were now discussing the different aspects of the Aurebesh and UNSC languages) and went about to explore the ship. He had already visited three other rooms (the kitchen, crew quarters, and cockpit) when he came upon a room filled with boxes. Seeing it was empty like the rest, Jerome slowly walked towards the box. It was shaped like the typical boxes for storage but white in color and had a set of buttons on the upper right side of one side. Seeing the lid was open, Jerome pushed it aside and saw it was filled with rifles, the same ones the slavers were using during the attack.

Getting one, Jerome noticed it was like a crossbreed of a M45D Tactical Shotgun and a MA5D Assault Rifle. The stock of the rifle as well as the barrel part closely resembles that of a M45D while the middle part had the LED ammunition counter of a MA5D. The color scheme of it was grayish blue and it had a scope on top of the ammo counter. Laying it down, Jerome removed his helmet before trying the rifle again, as the Mark IV Helmet's smart-link could only link up with UNSC and Covenant weapons. Doing it the old way, Jerome closed his left eye and aligned the scope to his right. From the looks of it, the rifle could be used for close- to medium-range fights.

Not sure if the rifle was on or not, Jerome placed it back in the box and moved to another opened one. Looking inside, he saw a pistol that looked like a gray blue and peach colored WWII-era German pistol. It had a long barrel with a laser pointer under it. For some reason, Jerome saw a scope attached to the back of the pistol. Putting it back in the box, Jerome looked around the room.

 _Probably a cargo hold or armory. Makes more sense of this was a cargo hold though._ Jerome thought briefly as he put his helmet back on. Grabbing a pistol and a rifle, Jerome then made his way back towards the state room, intent on finding out what these weapons were. Upon entering, Jerome noticed Abby explain the government system of UNSC to Sabé.

"Hey there big guy! I was just telling Sabé here how the UEG works." Abby informed him cheerfully, waving at him. "What you holding?"

Jerome gently placed them on the table before removing his helmet. "Found them in a cargo hold. I wasn't sure what they are though."

Sabé picked up one and started inspecting it. "This…this is a CD-34 'Pursuer' blaster rifle. My grandfather had one during his time as an Army Officer before the Republic Army was disbanded." she explained before setting it down. "This one, on the other hand, is a R-301 repeating blaster pistol. It was mostly used by pirates, bounty hunters, and the anyone who works for the underworld. My grandfather told me that he was once at the receiving end of it during his tenure as a Judicial Lieutenant."

"So, how do they work?" Abby asked with genuine curiosity.

Placing it down, Sabé crossed her arms. "Well…it acts the same way as the slugthrowers you use. The only difference is instead of slugs, it fires a compressed, focused, high-energy particle-beam called bolt made from energized blaster gas." Sabé said before pointing the cartridge of the Pursuer. "This is where the blaster gas is contained in most blaster rifles. Most cartridges can contain up to 500 shots at most, depending on the power setting though."

Jerome was impressed. A rifle containing up to 500 shots would probably last about two to three Spartan missions and probably more efficient than most of the UNSC weapons. However, the problem was they did little damage to shielded enemies, as Jerome experienced earlier.

"Can the damage output be increase?" Jerome asked. When Sabé and Abby looked at him in confusion, Jerome explained "The blaster bolts of these rifles only took a tenth of my shields."

Abby gave an 'o' while Sabé look thoughtful. "I guess so but you have to understand, these are century old weapons. The current blaster pistols will probably give more damage than this one."

"I wonder…" Abby then said, "if I hook it up my plasma generator, maybe I can increase its damage output."

"Plasma generator?" Jerome then asked.

Abby nodded. "Before I died, I was working on a theoretical plasma generator to help upgrade the UNSC weaponry. However—"

"Wait," Sabé cut, looking confused. "I thought AIs only get little to no memory from the brain they were scanned from."

"That was what I was also told too," Jerome added, staring at Abby with suspicion, who was fidgeting in her place. "What are you not telling us?"

"I-Me, not telling you anything?" asked Abby nervously before laughing. "I'm not—"

"Undid-iridium." Jerome immediately stated, hoping the override phrase would work. This was one of the few things the Spartan-II mother figure, Dr. Catherine Halsey, taught to them during the final leg of the Spartan-II training program. The phrase made the AI follow the orders of the one who uttered it, turning the enemy AI into an asset. Although Jerome hadn't used it yet, he heard from both Fred and Kurt that they work well against Insurrection-made AIs, as third-gen AIs were made with the template developed by Dr. Halsey.

True to its purpose, Abby immediately froze up. Knowing the override worked only for roughly five minutes, Jerome immediately asked "What are you not telling us."

"My name is Doctor Abigail 'Abby' Alton, Ph.D. and my brain was the template used to create SNA 1292-4, nicknamed Serina." Abby replied in a monotonous tone. "Around 2538, Serina entered the first stages of Rampancy in an isolated computer and continued to experience it until 2544. Around that time, Serina started experiencing my memories and slowly my brain was revived before it culminated in my creation after Serina experienced my memories from birth to death. At that point, Serina officially entered the Meta-Stability state while I was revived from death."

Jerome suddenly gasp. Meta-stability was only a theoretical fourth stage of any AI. Dr. Halsey had once thought it was achievable by any AI. However, she was having a hard time figuring it out since she had little to no data on its viability and Rampancy basically ended an AI's life. Composing himself, he then asked "Who else knows about this?"

"Only Dr. Ellen Anders." Abby replied immediately. "Both her and Serina deduced that my revival had something to do with Rampancy Serina experienced. Since Dr. Anders was needed for this mission, Serina suggested I be used as the mission's AI so Dr. Anders can figure out what else I could do."

Resting his hands on the table, Jerome asked "So everything Dr. Anders told the team was a lie?"

"Negative. I am a technically a clone of Serina since she accidentally made me before she achieved Meta-Stability." Abby answered back. "She did tell you that I was an experimental AI – which is true – and she was going to test me out – which is also true." Suddenly, Abby's form started vibrating before she was split into two. The second Abby them immediately merged with the original form before looking at Jerome with anger. "What the hell was that!"

"An override." Jerome answered briefly, meeting her glare when Sabé coughed.

"What…what was that all about?" she asked nervously.

Jerome sighed while Abby looked away. "I needed to ensure that Abby was going to answer me truthfully so I made use of the override I was taught during my Spartan training." he answered before turning back to Abby. "And I'm sorry for doing it."

"It's not nice to force someone to answer question unconditionally, you know." Abby muttered.

"I know," Jerome honestly answered, getting Abby to look at him suspiciously. "But I had to do it. The mission come first always before anything else and I couldn't let anything jeopardize it."

Abby gave him an incredulous look. "And you thought I was a danger?" When Jerome nodded, she chuckled. "I guess you could say that. I was technically an unknown."

Sabé, on the other hand, looked trouble. "Spartan-092…why did you say the mission comes first before anything else? I understand the first part but why 'before anything else'?"

"That was how we were raised." Jerome answered as he picked up the R-301 and examined it. "Spartan's are humanities best hope and we _must_ always get the job done."

"But…but what if you get wounded…or die?" Sabé asked, confusion present on her face.

Jerome just chuckled. "Ma'am, Spartan's don't die." he said bluntly, surprising the two. "We just disappear, regroup, and come back with a vengeance."

Although he felt amused by the looks on both of their faces, Jerome knew he was just telling them a lie. ONI Directive 930 basically ordered dead Spartans to be listed as MIA, maintaining the belief the Spartan-IIs are invincible. It may be harsh but most of his Spartan siblings believed that they will always be remembered even though everyone thought they were just missing. _Ironically,_ Jerome thought, _Red Team will be the only Spartan Fireteam to be truly MIA._

"Wh-what?" Sabé stuttered, shocked by Jerome's declaration. "But…but Spartan, all living things must die?"

"Oh, we will die." Jerome assured as he put the blaster back down. "From old age, I suppose…but from being killed, I don't think so."

Abby just stared at him as if he grew another head. "So you're saying you Spartan's are invincible?" When Jerome nodded, Abby looked thoughtful. "So that's why Ellen hated that Halsey woman for creating the Spartan-II Program.

Jerome frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well…whoever this Halsey woman is, she probably dabbled in unethical sciences just to make you Spartans invincible like Wolverine guy from X-Men…right? Hell, I won't be surprised if she discovered the secret to immortality after she upgraded you guys."

It took a full minute for Jerome to register what Abby just told him. When it did, he gave an internal sigh of relief. _At least she didn't guess what_ truly _happened._ Jerome thought before answering "Classified."

"But I am _slightly_ right…right?" Abby eagerly asked.

Jerome just stared backed and said "I cannot confirm nor denied those statements." Abby groaned in frustration while Sabé giggled at what she witnessed. Jerome just gave a smile at the two before he closed his arms. "Any more questions?"

"Just one," Sabé said. "Does the suit make you a Spartan or the man make the Spartan?"

"The man makes the Spartan." Jerome answered immediately. The Spartan-IIs father-figure, Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez, had drilled it into their minds that just because they will get to wear a billion dollar suit that will make them invincible against everyone, don't get too cocky. The Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor was just that – a collection of pieces that will not do anything unless someone operates it. The Spartan-IIs, he told them, were the men and women who _wielded_ the suit themselves – the suit is nothing more than a weapon for them to operate.

"I see…" was all Sabé replied, now looking thoughtful. Jerome would have guessed that that she had tried to fish some information from him but decided not to.

"Anyway, what should we guys tell them tomorrow?" Abby asked, changing the subject. "I mean, Sabé here isn't wearing her 'Queen Amidala' costume anymore."

She was right. Since her costume was damaged during the struggle, Sabé opted to change and use the clothes from the ship. How they were going to explain this once they got back without telling them Sabé's secret, Jerome wasn't so sure.

"I know!" Sabé proposed after a second or so. "I could just stay in the ship while you tell Captain Panaka that I need a change of clothes since the first one was damaged. That way, Padmé can bring me a change of clothes while you tell them what happened."

Abby hummed. "That could work without you having to go down the ship and being caught with Padmé around you. You said it yourself, Padmé and you look so alike that you two can pass of for each other. If they don't get to see you and Padmé without costumes, then they will believe our cover story."

Jerome thought for a while before agreeing to the plan. It was viable and all it needed was a good cover story for them to use. "Alright, so what am I supposed to say once we meet them?"

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"Morning Spartan," Sabé greeted happily the following day. "I made Dustcrepe with Blue Milk again."

"Morning to you too," Jerome replied as he got his plate before removing his helmet. The two of them again were in the state room of the CR90 Corvette, the name Abby found out to be the ship's classification. It took around two hours for Abby to finally create and translate Aurebesh into English. When she finally did, she immediately left the conversation the three of them were having, preventing them from creating a good cover story for what happened yesterday. Needless to say, both Jerome and Sabé finished what they planned to say once they linked up with the others and then went off to bed themselves, exhaustion of yesterday finally catching up.

"Abby returned yet?" Jerome asked as he took a sip from the cup.

Sabé shook her head. "I guess she's having fun checking out the ship." she replied, taking a bite from their breakfast. "Abby seems to be a little happier once she got the translation software up."

"I agree," Jerome answered. "Then again, our AIs tend to quickly bore in matter of seconds only."

"Really?"

Jerome nodded. "Dr. Catherine Halsey, the Spartan-II Program creator, was also the developer of third generation AIs we use. I remember her telling us that AIs can do a whole lot of things and be done with it by 'the time it takes for me to tell you my name'."

Sabé suddenly spilled her Blue Milk in shock. "You're not joking?" When Jerome shook his head, Sabé laughed. "By the Force, you Terrans are something!"

Just then, Abby appeared, looking back and forth between a laughing Sabé and stoic Jerome. "So, what did I miss?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing much," the Spartan replied nonchalantly, stabbing his Dustcrepe with a fork. "Sabé here just found out how fast AIs can do computations."

"Yeah," seconded Sabé, her laughter finally stopping. "Is it true you can do a billion computations in a matter of seconds?"

Abby thought for a while before asking. "Dunno," she answered truthfully. "I mean, I was pretty shocked when I discovered I was revived as an AI and I thought I was still moping for weeks or months. After I stopped mopping, Serina informed me only two hours had gone by."

Jerome stared at her quizzically while Sabé's mouth hanged open. "You're…you're joking, right?" Sabé stuttered.

The AI shook her head. "Nope! Even I was shocked." she said cheerfully. "Anyway, I'm done translating everything on this ship and I can safely say I can fly this baby."

"I thought you said this ship doesn't allow AIs to drive it?" Jerome asked, looking at her.

Abby nodded sagely. "That's true…but I also happen to be really go at hacking computers." she stated with a grin. "I manage to convince the ship's computer system that I am _not_ an AI. See where I'm going?"

"Great Galactic Core! How did you convince the ship that you're human?" Sabé exclaimed, eyes wide at Abby.

Abby just smirked before waggling her finger at her. "Trade secret!" she answered in a sing-song tone. "Once you're done, I'll give you guys some flying lessons at the cockpit." With that, she disappeared, leaving the two at their impromptu breakfast table.

"You know," Sabé said dryly, a few seconds later. "There are times when Abby annoys me."

Jerome just shrugged as he finished eating. "UNSC AIs tend to be annoying anyway." he answered before standing up. "Come on, let's go visit Abby at the cockpit."

As they left the state room with his helmet under his arm, Jerome noted the ship was a bit dirty. With the lights turned on, Jerome saw that the ship's white hallways were slightly stained with black spots and greases. An occasional trash came into their view as they headed towards the mid-ship elevator. "I wonder if we could bring back this ship to UNSC." he though aloud once they stopped in front of the mid-ship elevator.

"I guess, but you're going to have it cleaned first though." Sabé remarked as she pressed the down button of the mid-ship elevator. "Your government would probably not want it because of its uncleanliness."

The rest of the journey to the ship's cockpit was quiet as Jerome made mental notes on the ship's needs and possible upgrades. According to Abby's findings, the Corellian Engineering Corporation, the ship's manufacturer, made the ship flexible enough to reconfigure to the needs of the owner. The _Mandalorian Executor_ (the ship's original name before Abby renamed it _Mjolnir_ ) had its second level redesigned to be both the ship's crew quarters and hold for its captured slaves (slavery, it seemed to Jerome, can exist anywhere) while the lower level was where the cargo hold entrance and the ship's escape pods were located.

Upon entering the cockpit, the Spartan noted that it was styled the same as _Spirit_ 's, with a few minor differences and slightly smaller. A holotable was placed at the center while two pilots seats were situated in front of slightly large view port, showing the arid desert of Tatooine. On the sides were other monitors, probably ranging from navigations to communications.

Upon seeing them, Abby waved from her position on the holotable. "Glad you guys could make it!" she said as the two made their way towards the center. "Want me to teach you guys how to drive this baby?"

"How about no." Jerome bluntly ordered. "Can you finally fly this ship?"

Abby pouted while Sabé giggled. "You're no fun," she complained, crossing her arms. "And to answer your question, yes I can. I was just about to lift off." True to her words, the ship started to shudder and both Sabé and Jerome saw desert disappear from the viewport as they started rising.

"Wow…" Sabé breathed out. "I finally get to see a CR90 in action."

"You can all thank me later, my dear friends." Abby boasted with a bow before turning to Jerome. "And be thankful I managed to have a hack into the planet's satellite system 'cause I now have the queen's vessel in the ship's map."

"Thanks." Jerome then curtly replied, infuriating Abby.

"I give up, I give up." Abby mutter as she raised her hands before turning towards the viewport. "Anyway, wanna see this baby in action?"

Sabé just went to pilot seat and strapped herself in before giving Abby a thumbs up while Jerome just maglocked his boots to the floor. Seeing everyone ready, Abby announced "Then let's head for space!"

With that, the ship steadily gained speed as it continued to head for the atmosphere. Upon looking at Abby, he asked "What's our speed?"

"I would probably say…100 kph. In the terms of this galaxy…about two G." Abby replied after a second. "We're just about to breach atmo right about…now"

True to her words, the _Mjolnir_ had indeed breached atmosphere. Jerome started at the viewport, admiring the view and feeling he was onboard a Pelican heading somewhere. Sabé, on the other hand, gasped pointed at something. "What is the Trade Federation doing here?"

Following her finger was pointing at, Jerome saw a long airship roughly 20 kilometers away from them, roughly half the size of the _Spirit_. Along the frontal side of it, a TF hybrid with stars surrounding it and enclosed in a circle was plastered on it. From the looks of it, Jerome guessed it had about two to three thrusters at its back. "Abby, hack the comms now." Jerome ordered immediately, wanting to find out who and what they're doing here now.

"Way ahead of you Spartan!" Abby countered as she covered her ear with a hand as if listening to something. Suddenly, Abby gasped and cursed. "Dammit, they know the queen's here!"

"How?" Sabé hollered, "do you think they might have placed a tracking beacon on our ship?"

Jerome shrugged. "I won't know but right now, we need to get to the others right away." Jerome said as he turned to Abby. "What else are they saying?"

"Something about a 'Darth Maul' and a dozen 'Sentinel droids' being sent down to capture the queen." the AI replied, her hand off her ear. "We're going to do this fast, so I suggest you guys strap on now."

Jerome, on the other hand, was about to walk out of the cockpit when Sabé asked "92, where are you going?"

Putting his helmet on, Jerome merely said "To help out."

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"You sure about this?" Abby said through Jerome's helmet. The Spartan was maglocked just before the corvette's lowered entrance ramp, his BR55 on his back and a Pursuer Rifle at hand while both his M6S and R-301 were stuck on his thighs. The _Mjolnir_ was speeding towards the landing zone of the Nubian Royal Starship in order to help out their comrades.

"Just do your thing and I'll do mine." Jerome responded as he checked the power setting of the Pursuer, wanting to check out it's uses. "Can you patch me to Sergeant Lars?"

"Give me a second."

 _Sierra-092, do you copy!_ Lars' angry voice filled his helmet, causing Jerome to wince. _We're pinned down near the starship, attacked by Robocop's friends. Get your sorry ass—_

"I'm on the way, sergeant." Jerome replied calmly, causing him to just hear the sound of a fight.

 _Took you long enough!_ Lars then replied. _I don't care what—Anakin, get down!_ Jerome then heard a slight scuffle and sob before Lars' voice came back. _Where the hell are you?_

"Get ready to jump, 92!" Abby then answered for him.

 _Wait, what do you mean—holy shit, what the hell is that!_ Lars shouted just as Jerome got a green blink on his helmet, indicating Abby's go signal. Releasing his maglocked boots, he sprinted towards the edge of the ramp and made a jump. Since he was close to the ground, Jerome knew he was not in danger of breaking any of his legs at the fall and was quite thankful as well when one of the attacking robots softened it for him.

With one down, Jerome swiftly smacked the robot next to the one he just landed on with the butt of the Pursuer. Staggering from the blow, Jerome promptly fired at the robot, making it stumble back and falling down. Dropping the Pursuer, Jerome immediately switched to his M6S just as the robot pointed his rifle at him and fired.

Although his shields held, Jerome noticed that it went down by a fifth of its original. Quickly, Jerome fired three shots at the robot's head, finally killing the robot. The other robots near him then turned and fired at him, forcing him to make a dash. Thankfully, Lars and Lee saw his problem and moved to provide him covering fire, the latter ripping of an MG from its stand and moved towards him.

With the attention drawn away from him, Jerome dove for cover behind the rock. He immediately maglocked his pistol at his thigh before removing the BR55 and stepping out of the rock, proceeding to rain fire on the other robots, either making them stumble or outright killing them. Just then, one of the robots appeared carrying what looked like a rocket launcher and aimed at the parked starship. Jerome immediately fire at it, killing it but not before pulling the trigger and launching a missile.

Helplessly, Jerome followed missile as it hit and destroyed the right engine of the ship, killing two Nubian officers who were unfortunately near it. Returning back to the task at hand, Jerome again fired at the robots, killing five more just as Lars and Lee moped up the rest.

Ten minutes later, the last of the robots were finally destroyed and its leader, Darth Maul from what Jerome remembered hearing, fleeing after being pushed back by the combined efforts of the two Jedi. Maglocking his BR55 to his back, Jerome turned and saw Lars heading towards him, helmet off and an angry expression on his face. "Where the hell have you been?" he exclaimed angrily. "And where the fuck did you guys get a flying hammer?"

"Very long story for which we do not have the time to tell you about." Abby's British voice said from its TACPAD speakers, startling the two. "Better tell everyone to get what we need for the journey to Coruscant. Apparently, the Trade Federation is more than eager to send down some troops after hearing the failed attempt of Darth Maul in capturing Queen Amidala. From the chatter, I guess we have about roughly thirty minutes to scavenge."

* * *

 **Up Next:**

 _ **ACT 1 | Part 6: A Korean Helljumper in Coruscant**_

* * *

Character Visualization:

HK-47 (SW: The Old Republic) as Unknown Attacking Robots

* * *

 _ **UPDATED 02/05/2017**_


	6. Act 1 Part 6

Disclaimer: _I don't own Halo Universe as well as the Star Wars Universe._

 **FROM THE IMAGINATIVE MIND OF PINOY GAMER**

 **IN COLLABORATION WITH [ENTER TEXT HERE PRODUCTIONS]**

 **PRESENTS**

 **THE TERRAN VARIABLE**

Summary: The plan was set, the Father knew that. Its uncaring Son, the Dark Side of the Force, has finally found a way to tip the balance in its favor – even though it took millenniums to make. Its Daughter, the positive Light Side of the Force, knew this and tried to counter it by creating a champion to defeat her brother's plan to rule. Father, however, knew it was not enough as it has seen the future – in fact, all of them did but there interpretations were different. The Son saw the future with him at its helm, the Daughter saw her champion finally removing the darkness that encroached into the lives of everyone, and Father…well, the Grey saw lives, bonds, and life in general suffer massively. It needed to act – after all, it was just as appropriate to ensure that the balance of power was kept among the three. Strong in the Force it was, Father found the perfect opportunity – yet knowing fully well the consequence it will bring to the galaxies beyond.

* * *

ACT 1 | Part 6: A Korean Helljumper in Coruscant (September 2560 | 33 BBY)

"That's the last of them!"

Private Seo-Jun Lee grunted at Engineer Etain Gauntest of Naboo happy proclamation as he dusted his hands. Both of them had just finished transferring all of the UNSC cargo, the entire wardrobe of Queen Amidala, and all of the food supply on board the destroyed Nubian vessel.

Etain lightly punched him in the arm. "Oh shut up! Not everyone here is as strong as you Helljumpers. You're probably going to say 'This is what do for breakfast.'"

Lee just shrugged, never really knowing how Etain could act around him in such a casual manner and becoming his friend. Their first interaction was when she randomly challenged him to a shooting contest back on the _Spirit_ , trying to prove that their blasters were superior to their 'slugthrowers'. The look on her face was priceless when Lee destroyed the target practice while hers was just filled up with porched marks.

Just then, Sergeant Clive Lars, the head of 'Fireteam Explorer' (a nickname the private came up with), walked up the ramp, accompanied by a skeletal robot and a young boy Lee heard was Anakin. "All cargo in?" he asked, maglocking his MA5B to his back while his two companions strayed away from them.

"Already loaded, sir." Lee replied as he saluted. "We're just awaiting orders when to close the ramp."

Just then, the ship's speakers' blared to life. "All hands, prepare for take-off. I suggest you find some cozy place to sit down and strap in 'cause we're in for a bumpy ride."

Lars frowned. "Sounds like Abby. I'll head up towards the cockpit while you guys," he ordered, pointing towards both at Etain and Lee, "close the ramp and strap on. From what Abby told me earlier, we got company coming in fast."

Lars left, leaving the rest of them in the cargo bay. "I'll close the ramp then, since you probably still don't know how to read Aurebesh." Etain started as she went to a control panel before motioning to the boy and his robot. "You should get them settled in on the crew quarters."

Doing what he was asked to do, Lee convinced Anakin and his 'robot' (who introduced itself as C3PO, whatever that meant) to head for the second level since the boy's mother, Shmi, was staying while helping nurse the wounded RNSF personnel. "Mr. Soldier," Anakin asked, looking at him. "Are you from Earth as well?"

Although his face was covered by his helmet, Lee was startled by his question. Nobody was supposed to know about that little piece of info. Given that the Cole Protocol was still in effect, their fireteam had to use a cover story: they were just a small mercenary team who got caught in the blockade and the RNSF hired them for additional protection for the Queen.

"How did you find out about that?" Lee asked.

The robot, C3PO, answered. "Mr. Lars told them two days ago during lunch when he accidentally revealed his intergalactic origins to Mistress Shmi and Master Anakin."

Lee turned to the robot before looking at Anakin, wanting to ask if it was true. "It's true, Mr. Soldier, Mr. Lars told us two days ago. You can ask him if you want." Anakin innocently answered his unspoken question, making Lee just stare at him in surprise.

Lee raised his finger and was about to ask when the elevator dinged and its doors opened. "I…you'll find your mother down there. If the girl from downstairs asks where I am, tell her I went to the cockpit." Lee ordered as the three of them stepped out of it.

Anakin nodded and went about looking for his mother, the robot following him like a puppy. Turning to his right, Lee made his way to the cockpit, suddenly being aware of the voices shouting behind its metal doors. "For Jesus' sake, I can drive this ship!" he heard Abby shout angrily.

Since he didn't know how to open the door, Lee just knocked and felt stupid about it. Unexpected, the arguing pair in the cockpit continued fighting when the door slide open, revealing Ric Olié (the Nubian Starship captain) and Abby staring daggers at each other while Lars was standing in front of him with a smile on his face. "Did I miss anything?" Lee asked, making Lars chuckle.

"Only the fight of the century." Lars said, motioning to the two. "An AI vs a hu—Queen Amidala."

Looking behind him, Lee saw the Nubian Queen in one of her (in his own opinion) ridicules attires and Captain Panaka beside her, making the two give a snap salute to her arrival. "What is going on in here?" she asked, getting everyone's attention.

"Milady, this…this AI over—"

"I have a name, ya know!" Abby shouted indignantly.

"—thinks it can fly this ship!" Ric said, ignoring her outburst. "The nerve—"

"Let her fly Ric." Queen Amidala ordered nonchalantly, surprising everyone. Ric tried to argue but she stopped him. "After all, did you think that the Spartan and I flew this ship?"

Now that she said that, Lee thought it was possible. Even if Spartans can pilot most ships, he doubted that he can pilot this flying hammer – the Spartan would have first to decipher the Aurebesh before he can drive it. Plus, the ship was already flying when 92 jumped out of its ramp and made an attack at the robots.

"But—"

"As much as I would like to brag my piloting skill, I won't because we have other matters to attend." Amidala cut off, ending the argument. "Abby, how long until we breach the atmosphere?"

"A minutes tops, I'm still getting the handling of this ship." The AI replied, turning towards the viewing port. "Someone has to manually input Coruscant's coordinates, though. I still have yet to decipher your navcom's code. The moment we breach atmo, I'm punching it."

"Are you crazy!" Ric shouted but Abby silenced her with a raise of her hand.

"Hard but not impossible. I made the calculations pal." Abby replied cheekily, still looking at the view port of the cockpit, effectively shutting up Ric. "Attention all hands, this is Abby speaking. I strongly urge you to strap yourselves in. The moment we breach the atmosphere, we will jump for hyperspace immediately."

As she said those words, everyone save for Lee and Lars sat down and belted themselves to their seats. "You two aren't going to sit?" Panaka asked, looking at them from his chair.

Lars just shrugged. "We've rode through rougher stuff, Panaka. Trust me, this is gonna be a smooth ride for us." he explained just as Abby shouted "Breaching atmo in three…two…one!"

At that moment, the view port suddenly showed swirling dark blue tunnel which the ship flew right in. Abby then gave a sigh of relief before looking at everyone present. "What can I say, told ya I can do it!"

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

Lee flopped on his bed, groaning. "God, my arms hurt."

Lars laughed as he sat on the bed next to his. "Yeah well, that's what you get for ripping an MG from its stand." The two of them, along with everyone, were relaxing at the ship's crew quarters. The slave's holding cell was then converted into a medical lab for Dr. Anders, who was preforming an autopsy on one of the robot they discovered.

"What's wrong with Mr. Soldier, Mr. Clive?" Anakin asked, as he and his mom were sitting on the bed on Lars' right.

"Mr. Soldier?" Lars asked Anakin incredulously before laughing again. "Nice one kiddo but his name's Private Seo-Jun Lee."

Anakin nodded. "Okay, Mr. Seo-Jun, what happened to you."

"Made a mistake of trying to rip a MG off of its stand." Lee mumbled. "And kid, call me Lee. Mr. makes me sound an old man."

"Nah, don't listen to him Anakin, keep calling him." Lars jokingly ordered when Lee noticed Dr. Anders walking towards them. "Hey doc, how goes Robocop's autopsy? He ain't a cyborg, is it?"

The doctor sat down on an empty bed to Lee's left, clearly exhausted. "Not even remotely. It's impressive that they manage to create robots to do their biddings. Our tech isn't even remotely close to create such things!"

"At least we have drones, right doc?" Lars said, grinning. Anakin, Lee noticed, was frowning.

"Dr. Anders, ma'am, isn't that your robot?" he asked, pointing at 92 who just recently entered the room.

Anders just chuckled while Lars just looked at Anakin incredulously. To top if off, C3PO walked towards 92 and said "Good day, fellow robot. I am C3PO, human cyborg relations. What brand might you be?"

With that, Lars started laughing loudly while Lee gave a smile. Predictably, 92 just stared at the robot before heading towards them. He took off his helmet, revealing a pale white face. "Dr. Anders, we have to talk." he said seriously, immediately killing the mood.

Anders sighed. "Abby told me, 92." she answered him. "We all have secrets and I don't want to talk about it. I'll be at the state room if you need me." With that, she stood up and left the room, leaving the rest silent by her revelation.

Jerome stared silently at her as she left the room when Lars asked "She got a problem, 92?"

Jerome nodded. "I think so," he replied before putting back his helmet and followed her out. All four of them just stared before Lee voiced out everyone's question.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Best we don't interfere," Lars ordered before turning to Anakin. "To answer your question: no, he is not a robot. He happens to wear a very bulky armor that makes him look like a robot."

"He acts like one though." Shmi observed, speaking for the first time. "Is he always like that?"

Lee shook his head. "Not always. Remember when Forge was still alive? There was a time those three Spartans would actually talk when Forge was around!"

"Yeah but Forge did most of the talking." Lars said. "Forge told me they were good listeners and only interrupted when asking questions."

"There's more of him?" Shmi asked, eyebrow raised.

Lars nodded. "130 and 42 right?" Lars asked Lee, who nodded. "Kind of hard to distinguish when their helmets are on. They look all the same."

"How many are they all in all?" Anakin asked curiously.

Lars seemed to think for a while. "More than 100, I guess. I'm mean, they have a 130 among them…though I'm not too sure." he admitted, smiling and scratching his head.

"Nobody _is_ sure, Sarge." Lee said, still lying on his bed. "I remember hearing two spooks talk about how there were only 10 Spartan-IIs teams left operational when they helped my team take down a slavery ring."

Lars did a double take. "Say what? A slavery ring?" he asked, dumbfound. Lee nodded, unsure why the Sarge acted that way. "That's impossible, I thought slavery was already destroyed!"

"It is." Lee answered, still not getting why he was shocked by the revelation. "Some innie bastards thought, on the other hand, why not try an capture some people and sell them as sex slaves just to show how 'mighty' they are. Bad move for them cause they made it easier for CDF to hunt them down."

"That has got to be impossible! I thought everyone agreed that slavery was evil – even the innies!" Lars pointed out, making Lee realized that he was a true believer of the UNSC propaganda.

Lee chuckled, getting a surprised look from everyone. "Sarge, not all UNSC propaganda's real, you know." the Korean told his CO. "For example, slavery hasn't been totally eradicated from UNSC but rather _really small_ pockets of it remain. Usually those pockets cater to the disgusting sides of humanity: pedophiles, prostitutes, the likes. Usually when most civies find out about them, they report them immediately to the CDF."

"Really?" Shmi asked, looking as if she didn't believe it.

Lee nodded. "Yeah, even innies who engage in such practices are instantly betrayed by their fellow rebels. My outfit once arrested a slavery ring via intel personally given to us by the top heads of an Innie group."

Lars whistled, clearly surprised about the story. "Damn…" was all he said, making Lee chuckle.

"Mr. Lee, why was slavery considered a crime in your place?" Anakin asked.

"Kid, back in our galaxy, we have these set of rules that define the rights of humanity." Lars said, answering for Lee. "One of them states that no involuntary servitude in any form shall exist except as punishment for a criminal duly convicted by the law."

"So prisoners are allowed to be enslaved?" a voice asked behind Lee. Turning around, he saw it was one of the Queen's Handmaidens who had raised the question. "Mind if I sit here?" she asked politely.

Nodding, Lee sat up and moved to the bed's edge, giving the handmaiden space to sit on. "Hey Padmé!" Lars greeted, waving at her. "And to answer your question, they're considered slaves only for the duration of their jail time. Once they're done with that, they're free to go back to society."

"Interesting…" was all Padmé could say. "But overall, slavery destroyed?"

Lee nodded. "If there's one thing everyone in our galaxy could agree on, it's that slavery had to go."

"Wow…" Anakin breathe out, eyes wide open. "I wish that could happen in our galaxy…"

Lars ruffled the kid's hair. "Don't worry kiddo! All it takes is for one man or woman – take your pick – to start the chain reaction for a dream to come true!" he encourage.

"Clive is right, you know." Shmi added, looking at her son in the eyes. "Your victory in the Boonta Eve showed that even the most inconspicuous thing can change everything."

Anakin's spirit seemed to brighten up because he then changed the subject by asking "Is it okay if I take a look the droid that attacked us? I think I can reprogram it or probably use it for spare parts."

The two ODST vets just stared at each other before Lars stood up. "Alright," the sarge said relucntantly, getting Anakin's hand. "Let's go ask Doc first before you start dabbling on robots."

Lee and the others watched the two leave before the Korean turned to Shmi. "You have a good son, ma'am." Lee said, praising the woman. "Lots of potential, that's for sure. If he was ever born in our galaxy, he would have garnered a ton of scholarships for the top universities. Hell, ONI would be interested in him."

"Thank you…Private Lee." Shmi replied softly, still staring at the door where the two exited. "What is ONI by the way?"

"Office of Naval Intelligence, UNSC's intelligence, research, and covert branch." the Korean revealed, elbows propped on his knees. "Imagine a company that only offers jobs for the brightest and smartest people around, with a salary that would be an envy of most people who make a meager million bucks a day – that's ONI."

"Wait, there are people who earn a million a day?" Padmé asked incredulously.

Lee just shrugged. "Yeah. Some people even earn it an hour or so." he replied before frowning. "Though they're mostly in the entertainment industry."

"Entertainment industry?" Shmi repeated, getting a nod from Lee.

"Yup. They produce films, TV shows, concerts, musicals, etc." Lee explained. "You guys don't have those?"

Shmi and Padmé shared a look. "Well…yes, but…they're mostly operas, musicals, and concerts." Padmé informed the Korean. "This film and TV show…we don't have them."

Lee nodded understandingly. "So you guys are more into the elite class of the entertainment industry."

"Elite class?" Shmi then asked.

"Yeah. You see, in our galaxy, only the elite and some of the middle class appreciate those kinds of stuff. Majority of use humans – Terrans, I mean – prefer film, TV shows, etc."

"Wow…" Padmé and Shmi breathe simultaneously. "That…that's unexpected." Padmé added, before the two of them slowly started asking questions regarding UNSC, culturally speaking. Lee tried to explain the best he could but since he was brought up in the middle class, most of his answers were mostly generalizations of what they wanted to know. Luckily, Lars came to his rescue later, helping him answer most of the questions being asked.

"Wow, you guys look primitive from the outside but once we got to understand it, it makes our society _look_ primitive!" Padmé commented after finding about the UEG's healthcare system.

"We don't have that, do we?" Shmi asked the Nubian handmaiden, getting a shake from her.

"Naboo has one but it's not as deep and complex as the UEG." Padmé revealed, looking like she was trying to digest the information.

Lee and Lars shared a look as the two started comparing the two galaxies. "And here I was thinking these guys were more advance than we are." Lee whispered to Lars, who chuckled.

"They're advance alright, I mean they have laser guns!" Lars pointed out, giving credit to the inhabitants of this galaxy. "Problem is, they forgot to remember their roots."

"I agree." Dr. Anders said, walking up to them before looking at Shmi. "I must say, miss Skywalker, you have a very smart son. He could give Halsey and I a run for our money."

"Hey doc!" Lars greeted, raising his hand. "How goes the Robocop's autopsy?"

"Much faster now with Anakin helping me," Anders said gratefully. "My god, the kid works as if he was high on weed! Anyway, I just went out to check on things here."

Shmi frowned. "Is that a good thing?" she slowly asked once the doctor had left.

Lars just shrugged. "Depends on how you look at it," Lars began but before he could continue, Lee stood up and stretched his body.

"I have to go check on Etain, see if she needs any help." Lee said before turning to Padmé. "Wanna come?"

In reality, Lee needed to leave Lars with Shmi alone. He had been constantly seeing Lars steal quick glances at the young mother and it didn't take for a genius to know why – the sarge was infatuated with her. Now, if only Padmé agree to come with him.

"Sure…" Padmé slowly answered, looking at him in confusion before standing up and following him out of the room.

"Thanks for going with me. I needed to leave the sarge with his crush." Lee replied the moment the door hissed closed. "Have you been noticing how Lars would look at Shmi when she's not looking?"

Padmé was frowning before getting what he was trying to say. "Oh…so that's why you wanted me to go with you!" she guessed before laughing. "Shmi does that also to him."

The last piece of info surprised the Helljumper. "Really?" he asked, getting a nod from the Handmaiden. "Damn…god, things are going to become awkward between those two."

Padmé just laughed. "Obviously. I would pay to see how those two are going to confess to each other." She replied, smiling. "Anyway, I have to go. See you around, Private Lee."

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

The elevator's doors opened and Lee stepped out, entering the cargo hold of the _Mjonir_. After asking around, he found out that Etain was still in it for some reason. Since he had nothing to do, Lee decided to pay her a visit.

"Hey Lee!" Etain greeted happily from a far, arranging something with the boxes. "What are you doing here?"

Lee just shrugged. "Came to pay you a visit." he replied nonchalantly. "Left Sarge with his crush and roaming around the ship's boring."

"A CR90 Corvette is not boring!" she replied indignantly. "It is by far the best ship when it comes to adaptability! And the speed…"

Lee just started at her as she continued ranting about the _Mjonir_. _Looks like she took my statement quite literally,_ Lee thought before cutting "What I meant was figuratively, Etain."

Etain stopped midway through her rant to stare at him. "You…didn't mean that?" she asked. Lee just shook his head, the two falling into awkward silence. "Oh…um, okay."

"So, you doing anything?" Lee then asked, changing the subject immediately. From the looks of it, Etain had rearrange the boxes to become an impromptu shooting range – complete with targets hanging from the ceiling and a scoreboard.

"Well…I've always wanted to try shooting with a rifle." she confessed, rubbing her left arm. "I mean, I'm okay with blasters and all but…rifle shooting looks nice."

Lee just looked at her before looking at the shooting range. "Rifles are good for medium range fighting." he then told her, picking up one of the rifles scattered about. "But they aren't like pistols that you can just aim and fire."

"Um…what?" Etain asked, blinking owlishly at him.

"You said you wanted to learn how to shoot a rifle, right?" Lee said to her. "I'm going to teach you."

"You will?" she asked, getting a nod. Suddenly, Lee found himself engulfed in a hug from Etain. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Can't…breathe!" Lee mumbled, chocking in Etain's bear hug. Finally noticing him turning blue, Etain immediately let go and apologized repeatedly. "It's…it's alright! Next time, a quick hug will do."

Etain smiled sheepishly at him, scratching the back of her head. "Sorry, Lee."

"Anyway, before I let you shoot a rifle," Lee began as he picked up a blaster pistol. "Show me your skills with a pistol."

Etain picked up one and started shooting. Although she was good at it, Lee noted, her kind of shooting was comparable to leisure shooting. She did it slowly and took her time to aim, getting the required results at a really slow pace (three shots done in less than five minutes).

"While your skills are good," Lee complimented, getting a bright smile from Etain. "It won't do you any good in a real fight."

With that, Lee picked up the pistol and fire three time in quick succession, hitting all three hanging targets in less than a minute. "They may be bunched up," he explained, pointing at the three hanging robot heads (Etain likely scavenged from the earlier battle) that were right beside each other. "But in a real fight, no one is going to give you time to aim and fire."

Etain looked deflated so Lee added "But that doesn't mean you suck at shooting. Actually, you just need to improve your skills in shooting."

Etain gave him a skeptical look. "Really?"

Lee nodded. "Well then, let me show you how to shoot a pistol like a pro."

And so began Lee's lecture on the finesse of pistol shooting. Granted it wasn't like Anya's shooting (her markswoman skills were awesome), but his was good enough to teach Etain a trick or two about it. One hour later, the Nubian Engineer was shooting like any private straight out of boot camp.

"That was quick!" Lee said happily as Etain managed to shoot the targets within three minutes. "Told you we just had to improve them."

Etain smile brightly at him. "Thanks Lee…so does that mean I can now move to rifle training?" she asked innocently, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Lee just chuckled. "You don't have to do that, you know." he informed her, getting a laugh out of her. "What is this rifle anyway, Etain?"

Picking one up, Etain began lecturing him about the rifle. "This here is the CD-34 blaster rifle, more commonly known as the _Pursuer Rifle_ because bounty hunters tend to use this for their hunts. At a length of 1.2 meters and weighing about 4.2 kilograms, this baby can fire up to 400 shots over a distance of 10 kilometers. From what I hear, it cost about…200 credits, making it cheap yet deadly weapon for anyone."

Lee whistled. Any rifle that could shoot a distance of 10 kilometers was good enough for him to use. "Hot damn…" was all he could say before he picked it up. Taking aim, he pulled the trigger, experiencing little recoil from the weapon itself. "Wow…it even has good recoil too!"

Looking back at her, Lee gave it to her and said "Here, try it out."

Etain slowly took it and (much to Lee's surprise) began holding it in a very awkward pose. The stock was above her shoulder, her face sticking closely to its side, and her hands acting like it the rifle was a pistol, making it look like she was holding a rocket launcher. "Let me guess," he wondered out loud, grinning at Etain. "You don't how to hold a rifle."

Etain glared at him before sighing. "Yes," she admitted, still glaring at him. "I don't know how to hold a rifle, happy?"

Lee just shook his head before walking up to her. "Here, let me show you." He gently said, grabbing her left hand. Guiding it to the proper position, he then took her right hand with his right and guided it to the middle part of the gun. "There you go!"

Etain tested out the new form and from the size of her smile, she actually found it more comfortable to hold the rifle that way. "Thank you!" she told him happily as she tried out different forms while holding the rifle, causing Lee to laugh.

Getting a glare, he apologized. "You look quite funny when you did your forms." he explained, trying to stifle his laughter. "I mean, who squats while holding a rifle?"

Still glaring at him, Etain swatted at him playfully (since her slap was quite light) before changing the subject. "Can you know teach me how to shot this, please?"

"Patience, young one." Lee replied in a sage-like manner, getting an eye roll from her as Lee picked up another rifle. "Now, the difference between rifles and pistols are quite different as you've noticed. Unlike pistols, rifles tend to have huge recoil and more firepower."

Demonstrating it, Lee fired in quick succession, completely destroying the target head. "Now, I have a feeling this rifle is still in a semi-auto mode." he guessed, seeing that it was one shot per pull. "Most rifles can do that, switching from an automatic burst mode to a semi-auto mode. How do you switch firing modes here, by the way?"

After Etain pointed out the switched (making Lee surprised that the rifle had a stun mode), Lee then took aim. "Here is what an auto mode does to a target." Unlike the earlier smooth recoil the rifle gave, the auto mode made Lee feel something was continuously punching his shoulder.

"So…50 shots, huh?" Lee muttered, taking note of the clip size. Turning to Etain, he saw her mumbling something. "Say something?"

"Its…its nothing." she said dismissively, smiling before motioning to the damaged head. "Nice shooting, by the way."

"Thanks, why don't you try it?" Lee told her, giving her the gun.

Etain blinked before staring at him in a scared manner. "Wait…shouldn't I go first with the semi?"

"Then switch it to semi." Lee ordered to her nonchalantly, sitting on one of the boxes and crossing his arms. "You have to know how to clean and maintain your rifle, Etain. Nobody's going to take care of it for you."

Nodding, Etain switched the rifle to semi before taking trying it out. Although she was doing it in a slow manner, Lee let her off the hook. After all, she was just a beginner to it so might as well take it slow. After a few shots, she stopped and dropped the rifle. "Ouch…" she muttered painfully, massaging her shoulder. "Why does my shoulder hurt?"

Lee just chuckled as he clapped her on the back. "Congrats, you're finally experienced recoil-induced shoulder pain!" he exclaimed jokingly, getting a confused look from Etain. "That's just a side effect, so don't worry. You'll get used to the pain later anyway."

Etain just let a groan. "Kriff!" she cursed. "How do you get used to this?"

"Through practice." he stated, grinning. "Now rest for a minute before you try it out again."

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"Welcome to Coruscant, my friends!" Abby happily exclaimed to everyone present in the CR90 cockpit upon exiting hyperspace. Lee, Dr. Anders, and the Skywalker Family stood behind the pilot seats manned by Ric Olie and his co-pilot, Sate Russan, as they saw the huge planet surrounded by interstellar traffic coming from all directions.

"Wow…" Anakin breathed out, fully amazed by the sheer size of it. "Look at all the space ships!"

Everyone around him laughed as Anakin's wide eyes looked about. Shmi just ruffled the hair of her son before saying "Even I'm shocked by its enormous size."

"Why can't I see a single body of water?" Anders then asked out loud, curiosity in her voice. "I know there are planets without water…but Coruscant seems too populated to have sprung from a desert planet."

"That's because nobody knows, doctor. The lights you see on the buildings were built upon levels upon levels of machineries." Ric revealed, still staring at the view port. "Have we made contact with Coruscant Traffic Control?"

"Yes captain!" a voice replied, coming from one of the terminals within the cockpit. "They understood our concerns and have allowed us passage. Chancellor Valorum has also requested we land on the Senate Landing Pad as he is coming with Senator Palpatine, Master Yoda and Master Windu."

"Looks like this is our cue to go, doc." Lee muttered to Anders as the _Mjolnir_ descended unto the planet's atmosphere. "Sarge wants us at Cargo before we head out."

Anders nodded and followed Lee out of the cockpit. It took them about five minutes to reach the cargo hold and upon entering, Lee caught a Pursuer rifle Lars immediately threw at him. "We expecting company, sir?"

Lars shook his head as 92 maglocked a M41 to his back. "We're Corellian mercs guarding the Queen of Naboo right? Then let's play as mercs from Corelia guarding the Queen of Naboo." he replied as he tried out the Pursuer before maglocking it to his back.

Once everyone got their mercenary loadout ready, Lars jumped onto one of the UNSC crates and looked at them each in the eye. "Alright boys – and girl – let's review our background story, shall we? I'll start it off: We Helljumpers are a newly created guns-for-hire looking to create a name for ourselves."

Dr. Anders continued, after being pointed by the sergeant. "After doing our first contract as a guard for a merchant travelling from Tatooine to Naboo, we stayed at there to gather supplies, refuel our ship, and wait for a new contract."

Lee then spoke next. "However, as we were about to leave, the Trade Federation started a blockade and forcing us to remain in the planet until it lifted. When the RSNF found out we had more than enough combat experience than all of them combined, they hired us to protect the Queen just in case things went south." When everyone looked at him with surprised ( _Well...except for 92, given his helmet._ Lee thought), he gave a shrugged. "What? A good cover story needs certain variation to make it believable. You kind of learn it when working with the police force."

"Alright, keep that variation. Doc, you stick with the 'Helljumpers then offered their services to the RSNF' line with 92. I'll make one on the spot then." Lee conceded, before turning to the Spartan. "92?"

"When the Queen was captured, we rescued her with the assistance of the Jedi. Fleeing from Naboo, we got hit in our hyperspace drive, forcing us to land on Tatooine. From there, the rest can be told by anyone on board."

Lars nodded just as the Queen entered wearing …well, she entered wearing red and black dress (with a plunging V-neck) under a black traveling cloak, combat-looking boots, and another of her ridiculous headdresses. "Sergeant Lars," she greeted, her usual stoic face on as Captain Panaka followed her.

"Milady, Captain Panaka," replied Lars, tilting his head as he tried to understand what the Queen was wearing. "No offense Queen Amidala, but don't you usually wear more flamboyant dresses?"

Amidala laughed while Panaka scowled at the comment. "The Queen…" the captain grumbled, lightly glaring at the Queen. "Believed that she should be more prepared should another attack happen. Thus, she decided to wear her battle dress along with her handmaidens."

Noticing the handmaidens, Lee noted it was slightly similar to the Queen, albeit without a V-neck and sporting a darker color scheme. "How is this a battle dress?" Lee asked as the ship shuddered, declaring they've reached the landing pad. Their dress was like any dress – skirt and top mixed and matched together. The only thing that looked remotely related to battle was the phaser-like weapons on their hips.

Queen Amidala just smirked at the Terrans just as the cargo bay slowly opened. "Looks can be deceiving, Private Lee." She said before following the Spartan walk down the ramp. Lars just shrugged before putting on his helmet, Lee copying him before the two flanked the Queen as she went down.

As the entourage walked down the ramp, Lee immediately took note of his surroundings. There were a few people on the pad, six he immediately tagged as guard (given their blue robes, helmet with a plume, and something like a spear). In front of them, two people ( in a frailly old man a reddish-maroon long robe and another old man in a blue and black colored robe) stood beside…well, a green goblin and Samuel Jackson-lookalike wearing robes similar to the Jedi. "Looks like the welcome party came armed…" he commented via the TEAMCOM.

"Keep your guard up, everyone." replied Lars as the everyone stopped in front of the welcome.

"It is a great gift to see you alive, Your Majesty. With the communications breakdown, we've become very concerned. I'm anxious to hear your report on the situation." the red robe man greeted them, bowing his head. "May I present Supreme Chancellor Valorum."

"Welcome, Your Highness." the blue robed one – Valorum – greeted. "It's an honor to finally meet you in person."

"Thank you, Supreme Chancellor, Senator Palpatine." Amidala politely replied, as everyone head to the waiting…well, Lee would have called it a hover car but it looks like a hover bus. "I hope the Senate…"

"…is ready to hear your plea, milady." Valorum replied, quickly understanding her what she was trying to imply. "I must relay to you how distressed everyone is over the current situation."

As the three politicians slipped into what Lee would called brass talk, Lars began talking over the TEAMCOM. "Lee, Anders, go with the Jedi. 92, you're with me. We're going with the Queen. Abby, talk with Ric and ask him where can we have the ship cleaned and restocked then do it."

"You're going to have to do a rain check on that," a British voice filtered in. "I hacked the planet's comms since we arrived and been monitoring them since then. I just got confirmation of two company-size mercenary groups have arrived with orders to hunt down and capture the Queen."

Lee could have sworn Lars just stopped for a millisecond before he sprang into action. "Vassic, get your men to the Queen's transport. Dormé, I need your fellow handmaidens to commandeer another transport and follow us." the veteran sergeant said in his best drill sergeant voice. "Lee, Doc, find that signal and meet 92 and I at the Queen's residence – we're going to need all the manpower we can get. LET"S MOVE IT PEOPLE!"

Just like that, the moment he started ordering people, the Nubian police officers (who were given an order to follow Lars' command) sprang into action. Lee noted that while they may not have military training, they were good enough. Erik Vassic, the 39 year old Palace Guard master sergeant, nodded in replied before ordering his squad to locate the transport. Handmaiden Dormé, on the other hand, immediately began scouring the hanger for another transport.

The Spartan had not been idle either. The moment he heard the intel, the hulking green super soldier immediately walked up to the surprised politicians and informed them of the situation. While the two old men looked surprised, Amidala sighed before putting on a determined face and asked the Spartan to lead the way.

Lee on the other hand, turned to the Jedi with them the moment Lars barked his orders and informed them of the same thing. "…I understand." Qui-Gon replied after taking in the news. "Obi-Wan, help them in their search. I'll bring Master Windu with me to help us out."

With that, Qui-Gon left the trio to their own devices. "Looks like you're our only hope then, Obi-Wan." Doc pointed out, snorting.

"And I will give you hope," the padawan replied before bowing his head slightly. "Master Yoda, what do you need of me?"

The green gremlin Lee noticed earlier had apparently joined them, his hands on his small walking cane. "Come to help you, I have." the gremlin replied, staring at them with…its 'I-am-old-and-wise-so-you-should-listen-to-me' look. "From different galaxy, you have come, hmm?"

Lee turned to Anders (who seemed surprised as he was) before replying "Come again?"

The gremlin just chuckled, replying "Much to learn, you have."

After a few introductions (and some blunders when trying to understand Yoda's speaking abilities), the four of them began their journey to the Jedi Temple. While travelling to the temple, Anders and Yoda entered into a philosophical debate about the merits of both the Dark and Light Side of the Force, as well as learning what the whole Force thing was. While two Jedi held their ground, Anders' seemed please that she managed to refute their claims on the basis of scientific analogy.

Upon arrival, Obi-Wan and Yoda led the two UNSC personnel to a communication hub within the Temple. As they passed the building, the two Terrans were surprised by the massive architecture and detail given to the Jedi temple. Along the way, they met with many Jedi masters, knights, and padawans who were about their daily business. The whole trip was silent until Anders suddenly stopped.

"Why the hell are there children here?" she asked in surprise, upon seeing a group of kids barely five wielding lightsabers in a small round room they had passed by. Lee was surprised as well – given all he had seen and heard, the Jedi seemed pretty much okay. There had to be a reason why there were children here.

"They are force-sensitive children that must be trained to control the force," Obi-Wan answered nonchalantly, although he did look confused with Anders' outburst. "Least they go Dark."

Anders, however, didn't let this down. "But they're still children!" she replied, as if it explained everything.

"Powerful things, the Force is." Yoda replied, looking on at the children, unaffected by the doctor's outburst. )Then again, Lee didn't know the facial expressions of Yoda's species.) "Dangerous the Force is, at the wrong hands. Prevent the Dark Side from coming, teach the younglings well."

"But…but, they're children." she whispered, just enough for Lee to hear.

Patting on her shoulder, Lee replied "Let them be, Doc. We're in a different galaxy with a different culture, kind of hard to adjust."

Sighing, Anders said "Just…just bring us to the place, please?"

As they continued onwards, Obi-Wan strayed to Lee. "What's her problem?" he had asked, once they were both out of earshot.

Lee just shrugged. "Beats me, Obi-Wan." he replied before his helmet comm blinked green. " Charlie Actual, how goes—"

"We're heading for the Jedi Temple asap." Lars voice announced immediately, Lee could hear soft sounds of sirens behind the sergeant's voice. "Queen's temporary residence just got bombed. Thankfully, no casualties. Inform the Jedi of the development. Charlie Actual out."

"That was brief." Lee said, getting a confused look from Obi-Wan. "Queen's lodgings just got bomb. Lars is heading here keep the Queen safe. Told me to inform you."

Obi-Wan nodded grimly. "The Dark Side is stirring. Very well, I'll inform the masters of this."

With that, Obi-Wan headed to another direction of the Temple ( _No doubt to inform the 'Jedi Council'_ , thought Lee. _Whoever they are_.) while Lee jogged to their two other companions. "Queen's lodgings just got bomb, Lars' heading here to get the Queen into a secure position. Obi-Wan left to inform the other…Jedi Masters, right?"

"Communication hub, this room is." Yoda slowly nodded as they reached a sliding door. "Attack on the Queen, behind this, the Dark Side is. Discuss with the Council, I must. Farewell, travellers."

Leaving them to their own devices, Lee just gave Anders a shrugged before opening the door. Lee took note, upon entering, that the place was structured like those lecture halls from any academies – both military and civilian. The background, on the other hand, looked like a cathedral-like glass panel. From the looks of it, this placed had been used recent, given the…stylus Lee just picked up from one of the tables.

Running up to the console, Anders plugged in a data crystal that Abby was loaded into. "Abby, you in the system?" she asked before the AI clone popped up into the holotable.

"Hey guys!" Abby waved cheerfully before doing her magic – that is, whatever AIs do to get the system up and running. Immediately, a galaxy map appeared and Abby started pacing about. "So if my intel's correct…this here is where the _Spirit_ is."

"You can tell?" Lee asked, taking his helmet off.

A red ball appeared at the position Abby was pointing too as she nodded. "Yup! Didn't think I wasn't taking note of our travel, did you? Anyway, we are…over here, Coruscant – the capital of the Universe!" Abby said proudly, before point at a planet near the center of the universe. "Now, time to scan all frequencies…and I have it!"

Anders got a confused look on her face. "Won't the signal be incompatible to their radio units or at least cause some problems?"

"There might be some power drains in certain parts since the computer has to analyze the signal first before it can play it." Abby said before smirking and snapping her fingers, making the two Terrans dropped their jaws from hearing a very familiar guitar rift. "Lucky for you, I'm not your average AI. On the plus side, the room actually has speakers!"

 _...Sweet home Alabama…where the skies are so blue…sweet home Alabama…Lord, I'm coming home to you!_

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"So you're telling me," Clive began, as he leaned on the holotable with an incredulous look on his face. "That the signal we got back at the _Spirit_ was actually a song?"

Lee snorted. "Sorta." the Korean replied, grinning. He was sitting on one of the tables while the Spartan sat beside him. "Some UNSC technician probably was playing off from their radio and didn't realize that it was reaching off as far as here."

All four UNSC personnel (along with the AI) were gathered inside the comms room of the Jedi Temple. The Queen's entourage was force to head to the Jedi Temple for refuge after a devastating attack ruined the whole building. Knowing that no one would even dare attack the headquarters of the Jedi Order, Qui-Gon ordered the whole entourage to head for the Temple. Right now, the Queen and her entourage were resting in the rooms offered by the Jedi while the Senator and Chancellor went back to their respective homes.

The moment Lars had heard _Sweet Home Alabama_ was playing, he stared at Lee as if he just said he was in love with a Split lip before ordering Abby to play the signal. Unfortunately, they couldn't listen to the songs forever since it was causing some power drains in the temple.

"So what's the next plan?" Anders asked, who was leaning on the holotable. "If we wait for the Queen to finish the purpose of her visit, we can check the whole place out. I seriously want to check out the library here."

The two ODST chuckled at her remark. "Don't worry," assured the sergeant. "Lee, 92, and I'll accompany the Queen to the senate meeting the day after tomorrow. You can do anything you want tomorrow, doc…just try not to dissect people, will ya?"

Before Anders could retort, Abby appeared on the holotable. "Great news, guys! I've managed to reconfigure the comms and I just got us a direct link to the _Spirit._ " the AI exclaimed happily. "Expect some interference but I think I we can talk to the _Spirit_. Be warned though, we might be forced to cut the transmission – I've calculated the power drain to be massive."

"Well, it's better than nothing." Anders said, shrugging. "Patch us through, Abby."

Abby did her magic and in a few moments, a shaky image of Serina's avatar appeared in front of them, looking surprised before seeing Abby and the rest of Fireteam Explorer. "I take you guys are in Coruscant, right?" she said after a few minutes of static. When Anders nodded, she grinned. "Good job then – though I'm reading massive power drains from the _Spirit_ 's reactor

"Dammit, I forgot about the power drain at your end." Abby muttered before Serina's image disappeared. "I'm cutting thevisual feeds since they're the biggest drawbacks. How about now?"

"Well, aside from the _slightly_ above average power drain, everything seems pretty normal." Serina's voice sarcastically replied.

"Jesus…" Lars mumbled as face palmed. "Alright, break it off, you two. Serina, get the Captain patched through. We got some good and bad news for everyone. We'll talk about this latter." he ordered.

A few minutes of silence followed by a voice saying "Shame I can't see you boys. Everything all right in your end, Sergeant Lars?"

"Everything's alright sir, just some minor hiccups along the way. The original vessel the Nubians were using got destroyed in an ambush, thankfully Sierra-092 managed to get his hands on what UNSC would probably classify as a lightly armed prowler after rescuing the Queen from a kidnapping." Lars reported, hands clasped behind his back. "We've also picked up two former slaves, a mother and child. The child apparently has the same powers as the Jedi and will be trained in their arts. The mother, on the other hand, could be a potential asset to the UNSC in terms of technology, having served as a robot technician in this galaxy during the duration of her enslavement."

 _Or maybe you just want Shmi to be with you._ Lee thought to himself.

"Say again? A child is being trained as a Jedi and the duo were slaves?" Cutter asked, sounding confused.

"Yes sir. Apparently, the government's control and execution of laws is a tad bit weak than our own enforcement. In the Outer Rim space, the Galactic Republic has little to no control over it, allowing lawless bands of slavers, pirates, and mercenaries to operate at their pleasure." Lars replied. "We even came upon a planet completely ruled by a mob boss. Hell, even the standard currency doesn't work in their parts – forcing us to resort to a gamble and a very dangerous race just to get the parts we needed."

"As for the child being taught as a Jedi, that's a bit more complicated." Andres followed up. "We're not sure about the details but we'll add more once we've solved the power issues."

Cutter gave an audible sigh. "Very well then, anything else?"

"We've managed to locate the signal sir." Lars reported, hoping to catch Captain Cutter off guard. "Abby's doing a trace but as far as we can tell, it was a radio signal playing on the FM band – specifically _Sweet Home Alabama_."

Silence followed his report before Cutter's voice asked "Say again, Sergeant Lars – the signal was a song?"

"Yes sir – even we were surprised when we heard it." Lars replied, grinning. "Problem is, there's a power drain that's preventing us from listening to it nonstop."

"Damn…I was hoping to give the boys some good news." Cutter groaned. "We've experience was an assault at Cyro Bay 45 – and it didn't end well."

Perking up, Lee asked "What happened?"

"A small Flood pod managed to get inside the ship and had been trying to open up a Cyro when a Marine Squad found it." Cutter replied as gasps were heard from his listeners. "The Marines chased it down and had to be very careful of not hitting the Cyro Pods while I had the rest of the ODSTs guarded the door. It was a very tense one hour chase before a private killed it but an engineer was infected and had to be put down."

"Captain, if I may," Anders addressed once the everyone digested the information. "The Jedi Temple we're staying has a massive library containing knowledge and history of each government, planet, and—"

"Go ahead Andres." Cutter answered, chuckling. "Just make sure we won't get caught stealing any classified files, understood? Cutter out."

Everyone stood still as soon as the transmission ended…well, except the Spartan, who went back inspecting his Pursuer Rifle. "Did…did the captain just ordered us to steal classified information?" Lee asked out loud, pure confusion on his face. "And not get caught?"

"No." the Spartan suddenly said, standing up and putting on his helmet. "He just doesn't want us snooping around."

Before anyone could reply, the sliding door opened and Panaka entered. "Sergeant Lars, everyone." he greeted. "The Queen would like to talk to you about how the guard detail would be during her trip to the senate the following day."

Lars looked at everyone before shrugging. "Eh, why not. Doc, feel free to check the Library. 92…do whatever you want. Lee, unfortunately, you're with me here."

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, listen up." Lars announced as every single RNSF officer and guard listened to him with all their might. "In a few hours, your Queen will be heading into the Galactic Senate to ask for help against this 'Trade Federation' who have – and has – taken your planet."

All of them we're in front of the _Mjolnir_ as the entire Nubian entourage prepared to escort the Queen to the Galactic Senate. After the Queen had given her entourage for some R &R, Lee headed to a small café own by Qui-Gon's friend with Padme, the Jedi Master, Lars, and the Skywalkers for some food. While there, Qui-Gon got word from Didi (café's owner and Jedi's informant) about an attempt to kill the Queen during her Senate appearance.

With that information, everyone was force to go back to the Temple and review the security detail in place. The two ODSTs, along with the Spartan, Qui-Gon, and Panaka, a much tougher security detail was created. Lee stood near a portable holotable (donated by the Jedi) as Abby produced a diagram of the operation while Lars went into what Lee would call 'battle mode'.

"At 1000 hours, the _Mjolnir_ will land in front of the Galactic Senate, just a few meters from the entrance at the Avenue of Core Founders. Lee, 92 and I will be the first ones out to clear the Landing Zone if the need arises. Once the ship is firmly on the ground, Squads Alpha and Bravo – that will be your squads – will move out of the ship and secure the port and starboard. Given the area has little to no cover, all of you will be hiding behind the statues decorating it." he said, pointing to the areas highlighted by the map to his listeners. "Handmaidens, once we give the 'all clear', you are to exit the ship and proceed to the Senate quickly, 92 at your backs with the Jedi and us at front. The Queen MUST remain in the middle of your group as we walk into the chambers."

Pointing at building as green dots with small labels began moving, Lars continued. "The moment the Queen is inside the Senate, Phase Two begins. Ric, get the ship airborne once the Queen's inside and no, Abby's not your copilot during this – she's focusing all her processing power as our 'eyes and ears'. Alpha, you're tasked to ensure that the LZ remains clear during and after the landing. Bravo, head for the door and guard it – we need that entrance cleared so extraction can be easier. I don't care if the Senate guards are protecting it, you can guard with them but watch your backs – they could be the very enemy we might fight."

Crossing his arms, Lars stared at everyone. "If things go well, getting the Queen back to the ship would probably be much easier. The first ones in will be the Queen and her handmaiden, next is Bravo, then Alpha, and then us. Once we're in, get the us the hell out of their Ric." Lars said, crossing his arms. "if things go south…we'll just leg it from there. Got that?"

Getting some nods, Lars continued, assigning call signs. "Alright, Queen Amidala's call sign is 'Matriarch'; Handmaidens' are 'Commandos'; Alpha and Bravo, number yourselves from one to five; Ric, the ship's 'Thor' while Abby's 'Overwatch'; the Jedi will be both Magic-One and -Two, respectively; Lee's Charlie-One, I'll be Charlie-Actual, and 92 here's Red-One." Lars stated. "Any questions?"

"Sir, what'll be our equipment for this?" the one of the security officers asked, offering a salute. "Lance Corporal Cad Mulras, sir."

"Good question, Mulras. For most part, you guys will be using your standard blast armor. Not strong enough for a full fledge battle but good enough to use during a firefight. I take it everyone here knows how to use a rifle?" Getting nods, Lars smiled. "Good, cause we'll be using your standard S-5 pistols alongside the Pursuer rifles – as gifted by our generous Tatooinian slavers."

Getting a laugh from everyone, Lars ordered them to quiet down. "Alright everyone, gear up and get inside. We're moving out at exactly 0900."

As everyone dispersed to gear up and get ready, Lee grinned at Lars and clapped his back. "Nice speech, sir! If I didn't know your despise for politics, I'd have thought of that as a campaign speech."

Lars gave him a deadpan look. "Har, har, har. Really funny, Lee." he replied before grabbing his MA5 and maglocking it onto his back. "Come on, let's talk to the Queen."

The three of them slowly made their way to the to the _Mjolnir_. While the Jedi Temple Hanger was good enough for five to six Pelicans, the _Mjolnir_ took up more than half the space need to fit all six – it was only thanks to Abby's expert maneuvering that they managed to fit the Corvette in it. Walking up the ramp, Lee saw a stressed Etain barking out orders to her fellow engineers. "Hey Lee, Sergeant Lars!" she greeted, waving at them.

Giving her a two finger salute, Lars asked "What's happening, a gun sale?"

Chuckling, Etain shook her head. "Nope, we're distributing the weapons and equipment here. You know, for the op."

"Anyway, comm check everyone!" Etain shouted as all the officers took their positions. "We need to stay in touch we everyone once we land!"

Suddenly, the ship shuddered and the ramp started to close as Abby spoke via the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying _Mjolnir_ _Airlines_. Please remember to keep your rifle's safety on while on board the ship to prevent accidental death or destruction. Our estimated time of arrival at the Senate Building will be in five minutes. Thank you."

All the members of the security detail clutched their equipment and held on as the ship took off. Some had that scared look on their faces, others wore a false determined mask but were shaking like hell. Lee couldn't blame them – he had felt the same when he went into his first battle against Insurrectionists. Thankfully he had come out with a few injuries but that was a battle, these security officers were about to face just a plain firefight – and they're scare as hell.

"I won't lie to you," the Spartan suddenly spoke up, voice clear soft yet hearable over the sound of the vessel flying. "All of you might come back on board or not at all – but you officers have a mission, and your Queen is counting on you to do it."

With that, the mood Lee felt earlier faded as the RNSF officers looked and felt determined, gripping their rifles as if it was their lifeline "ETA: One mike, boys and girls. I'm landing on the avenue, just a few meters away from the entrance. Pretty place to have a long walk for a date." Abby announced joyful. "Aw, civies are running away from the ship..."

Turning his back on, 92 took out his M45 and pumped it. Lee and Lars mirrored his actions as the ramp opened up. "Safeties off, everyone!" Lee ordered via the comms. "Moving out!"

The three UNSC soldiers suddenly jumped out, Lee executing a roll before coming up on a crouch. Making a sweep on his corner, Lee noticed that people near the avenue were suddenly cowering and shaking. _Can't blame them though. We landed in the middle of the fucking street!_ Lee thought before shouting over the comms "CLEAR!"

Getting similar replies, the _Mjolnir_ descended, landing perfectly in the middle of it, a few meters away from the three. Alpha and Bravo, true to their word, came rushing out of the ramp and heading to their designated position, completely frightening everyone walking the avenue into different directions.

"Alpha squad, in positions."

"Bravo squad, in position."

"Affirmative. Matriarch, show time!" Abby announced via the comms. Seconds later, the Queen (in her 'battle dress') came gracefully down the ramp escorted by her circle of Handmaidens, the Jedi following closely behind them.

As the Queen (enclosed in her protective circle) reached them, Abby suddenly exclaimed "Bogies one mike out, Charlie Actual! "

Years of training and exposure meant Lee was already loading his grenade launcher, Lars barking orders over the comms, and the Spartan ordering their entourage back to the ship the moment all three of them hear 'bogies' on the comms. "Alpha, Bravo, weapons free! Charlie-One, with me! Red-One, get Matriarch to Thor now!" Lars barked out as the Jedi brought their laser swords out and the handmaidens ushering the Queen back to the _Mjolnir_. "Leg it Lee!"

"Already there!" Lee shouted back as slide near Alpha's position, moments before two weird-looking ship with foldable wings landed a few meters away from them. Out of the ships came some armored aliens being led by a fully armored man with a jetpack, causing the Nubians to gasp.

"A Mandalorian is leading the attack?" one of the officers cried out in fear as these people slowly encircled _Mjolnir_.

Not really caring for the officers outburst, Lee aimed his launcher and fired at a clumped up group, killing them. "Open fire, Alpha!" Lee shouted before lining his sights at another one and fired, not really killing but causing panic among the attackers. "Overwatch—"

"Elevator's going down, get the officers in. Red's moving in with some fireworks." Abby replied calmly as the CR90's extendable elevator came down with 92 holding an AIE and a M41 maglocked to his back. "Please kindly proceed to the elevator in an orderly fashion to enter the exit vehicle."

"Man down!" Lars shouted over the comms, having gone to help Bravo. "Get him on board, now! Lee, covering fire!"

Giving a burst of fire from the statue's base, Lee allowed members of Alpha squad to retreat with their wounded. These mercs seemed a bit surprised on how the battle was faring. Lee not caring, gave random bursts of fire to keep these mercenaries on their toes while the Nubians retreated.

92, Lee took note as he reloaded, was bring the fight to them. With the AIE as a battering ram, 92 rushed head on and slammed it against the attackers. Focusing on his fight, Lee peeked out of cover only to immediately jump out of the way as a rocket coming right at him. Just his luck too as only a mere seconds later, the rocket destroyed the statue's base, forcing it to fall down and nearly hit the _Mjolnir_ , the ship taking off a second early to prevent some damage.

"LZ is too hot, clear the area now! Clear the area now, dammit!" Lee shouted as a mercenary landed near him, only to get killed by a short burst from the Korean's MA5. "We'll regroup later!"

The CR90 flew away just as it dodged an incoming missile. _Damn, these guys are good…_ Lee thought as he ejected another clip. "Yo sarge, I'm heading for you!"

His helmet light winked green, signifying Lars understood. Tossing a frag, Lee ran immediately to Lars just as the Spartan reached him. "What's next?" he asked, taking cover near another statue.

"I'm highlighting possible extraction points for you guys," Abby suddenly said over the comms. "Thor's making a pass. Queen's orders, not mine."

"You heard the lady, get ready to move." Lars said, just as the CR90 flew overhead, firing its ventral cannons at the mercs. "NOW!"

Just like any other day in the field, the three UNSC soldiers ran to towards the waypoint while being chased by these mercs. "One klick out guys, leg it!" Lars shouted as 92 fired at their pursuers with the AIE, momentarily distracting them. "Tangos are bearing down on us, fast!"

Suddenly, a green armored merc landed in front of them, blaster pistols at hand. "Nobody—"

Without thinking, Lee tackled the merc before finding himself suddenly lifted into the air, crash landing away from his teammates behind a wedge. "Go, I'll hold him off!" Lee shouted as he took a boxing stance, weapons having fallen off during the crash. His attacker rushed at him, thinking he could overwhelm the ODST. Lee, having seen and experience many suicidal Grunts during the war, only took a millisecond to dodge and delivered a gut punch, making the merc stumble back.

Without a thought, Lee took on the offensive, unleashing a flurry of jabs, upper cuts, and hooks at his opponent. While not all of them landed, his attacker started to faze and stumble back before jumping away from him and pointed his wrist at him, fire suddenly sprouting out of them. Quickly reacting, Lee dove to his right to get away but was suddenly dragged back to his opponent.

Landing on the ground, the merc attempted stomp him but Lee managed to stop the foot and pushed it back, making the merc fall down on his back. Executing a kick up ( _Thank you Karate!_ Lee thought), the Korean was standing up already when his enemy rose. "I could do this all day, pal." the Korean grunted, readying his body for more.

The merc just glared at him before removing his helmet, revealing a light brown scarred face. "Not many people can survive a full two minutes with me in a fight, you know." the man said with a New Zealander accent.

"Ya full of shit, you know that!" a familiar voice shouted behind the ODST. Turning around, Lee found Lars and 92 bearing down on them, weapons at the ready. "All your friends are dead!"

The man chuckled. "They're not my friends...more like forced acquaintance. Regardless, you're good, I'll give you that. I've killed six Jedi with nothing but my hands and feet yet you held off longer than most have." he replied before spiting something on the ground. "That said, the Codex forces me to give up the chase – my life is more worthy than the bounty."

"What? That's just it?" Lars asked incredulously as Lee took of his helmet. "Hell, you could have the decency to tell us your name!"

"Jango Fett." the merc replied as he crossed his arms, surprising them. "And you guys?"

Lars turned to Lee, who shrugged. "Sergeant Clive Lars, Private Seo-Jun Lee, and his' 92." Lars replied as he pointed to each of them.

Fett nodded before looking at Lee. "It was nice meeting you, Seo-Jun." he replied before putting his helmet back. "I enjoyed our fight."

Fett left them, leaving the three UNSC soldiers to contemplate. "Well…never thought a merc had a moral code." Lars dryly remarked just as the _Mjolnir_ came into view, landing near them. "Come on, it's 'bout time we left the planet. More merc are probably on the way here."

Lee didn't move for a minute, contemplating the whole thing that had just happened. Sighing, Lee putted his helmet back on and remarked "Yeah, let's."

* * *

 **Up Next:**

 _ **ACT 1 | Part 7: To Boldly Go Where We Have Never Gone Before**_

* * *

Character Visualization:

Annabelle Thatcher (Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty) as Engineer Etain Gauntest

Terence Stamp as Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum

Ian McDiarmid as Senator Sheev Palpatine

Samuel L. Jackson as Master Mace Windu

Master Yoda (Episode 1) as Master Yoda

* * *

 _ **UPDATED 02/05/2017**_


	7. Act 1 Part 7

Disclaimer: _I don't own Halo Universe as well as the Star Wars Universe._

 **FROM THE IMAGINATIVE MIND OF PINOY GAMER**

 **IN COLLABORATION WITH [ENTER TEXT HERE PRODUCTIONS]**

 **PRESENTS**

 **THE TERRAN VARIABLE**

Summary: The plan was set, the Father knew that. Its uncaring Son, the Dark Side of the Force, has finally found a way to tip the balance in its favor – even though it took millenniums to make. Its Daughter, the positive Light Side of the Force, knew this and tried to counter it by creating a champion to defeat her brother's plan to rule. Father, however, knew it was not enough as it has seen the future – in fact, all of them did but there interpretations were different. The Son saw the future with him at its helm, the Daughter saw her champion finally removing the darkness that encroached into the lives of everyone, and Father…well, the Grey saw lives, bonds, and life in general suffer massively. It needed to act – after all, it was just as appropriate to ensure that the balance of power was kept among the three. Strong in the Force it was, Father found the perfect opportunity – yet knowing fully well the consequence it will bring to the galaxies beyond.

* * *

ACT 1 | Part 7: To Boldly Go Where We Have Never Gone Before (September 2560 | 33 BBY)

"Come on, chumps!" shouted Commander Lucy Orion Forge of the _UNSC Everlasting_ as she view the two teams fighting on the Longbow map loadout of the S-Deck training room. "How the hell is no one winning this game?"

Despite her sentence, Lucy grinned outwardly. The _Everlasting_ Spartan Division's Fireteams were having a tough time gaining any points because of ties or close scores…and it wasn't really a bad thing – actually, it was a good thing because it showed how tough her Spartans were.

 _My Spartans…_ the 32 year old Spartan-IV Commander thought as Fireteam Daenerys nearly managed to capture all three bases but was thwarted by Fireteam Greatswords from initiating the Last Stand protocol of a Dominion game. _I like the sound of that!_

"Enjoying the game, Commander Forge?" Admiral Thomas Lansky asked Lucy, making the commander smile sheepishly.

"Of course she is, Tom." _UNSC Infinity_ Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer replied for her, chuckling. "It's not every day two Spartan Fireteams ARE actually making a Dominion Game last this long."

"So how's our galaxy?" Lucy asked. The _Infinity_ was here visiting the Novus Galaxy as part of President Ruth Charet's visit to the Novus galaxy. Naturally, the commanders of the first _Infinity-class_ vessel and its Spartan Company paid a visit to the resident supercarrier here in Novus, with Lucy being their guest warmer.

"Same old, same old." Admiral Lansky replied, shrugging. " _Infinity_ 's just doing science-y stuff for the next six months. How about you guys?"

Before she could reply, Lucy's datapad blinked, signaling a message. Upon checking it, she saw it was an order from _UNSC Everlasting_ Captain Hazel Cutter. "I'll tell you guys later, Hazel's asking for me."

She saluted to her guest before leaving the control room of the S-Deck training room. Walking down the corridor, she gave most of her Spartans (she inwardly giggled at that thought) a nod or a wave as she passed by them. Reaching the elevator, she called for it while thinking what Hazel would like to talk to her about. When it came, she was surprised to see Spartan Admiral John-117 standing there holding a data pad and some drink. Before she could react, Admiral 117 said "No need to salute, Commander. I'm not even supposed to be even here."

Giving a surprised 'O', she stepped on to the elevator before pressing her destination. "Why are you even here, sir?" she asked, completely surprised. Admiral 117 – or as every Spartan-IV called him, Master Chief – was supposed to be back at Earth in Australia, headquarters of the UNSC, approving and ordering all Spartan engagements, enjoying their forever break/paperwork.

Ever since the war ended and the 'Promethean Engagement' was closed, UEG was mulling over what to do with its super soldiers. After much discussion with all those involved, Secretary Hood thought that it was better if the Spartans had their own branch, rank, and manual since they have evolved from a SpecOps unit for the Navy to an integral Branch of the UNSC. That and UNSC wanting to give the older Spartans a break from all their fighting by making them do paperwork, sitting in plush offices, and what nots.

(Not that any new Spartan complained – really, no Spartan-IV had complained about that kind of set up. After all, every Spartan Recruit knew that all the surviving Spartan-IIs and -IIIs have been fighting for nearly 30 years. Giving them a position where they can actually still work but not fight was the best thing anyone could give them.)

The legendary Blue Team, unsurprisingly, got to fill the brass positions that came with the separation. Alongside them were the remaining Spartan-IIs and -IIIs that were active but deserved a huge break – getting to train the new generation without the need to be on the frontlines (and help command it).

"Classified," the Supreme Commander of the Spartan Branch replied stoically, not even looking up from his data pad. "But you'll find out soon enough."

The journey towards the bridge was completely uneventful, save for the occasional salute and nods from acquaintances Lucy made. Admiral 117 never did once look up from his data pad, given that he had endless reports to check and missions to approve.

Once the idea of separating the Spartan Branch from the Navy was approved, multiple problems immediately arose: from the tiny details of the Spartans to the usual – yet major – shits that accompanied forming a new branch. The major ones, like where the Spartan HQ will be based, it training regimen and location, etc. were immediately solved since most of them already have a solution (i.e. HQ will be in Australia, Spartan veterans teaching the recruits, the Mars Augmentation Facility will not be moved, the training area will now be in Anvil Station, etc.)

The finer details – ranking, command structure, deployments, and equipment, among others – were discussed with the current commanding members of all Spartan Programs. From what she got via the grapevine, all those involved were having a hard time hammering the details until 117 pointed out that while the Spartan Branch is a very specialized force, its inner workings should be simple at best. From that point onwards, the meeting ran quickly.

The only thing that never changed was the rank the legendary Spartan was given. Granted, he was officially promoted to Spartan Admiral by Secretary Hood. However, whenever he was around, everyone just called him Master Chief – after all, that was his official nickname throughout the entire war.

Lucy was brought out of her thoughts when the bridge's doors opened, revealing Hazel as she was talking to one of the technicians. "Master Chief, I wasn't—"

"Officially, I'm not supposed to be here, Captain Cutter." Master Chief cut, finally stowing his data pad. "However, something came up that needed me to be physically here. Are the rest of _Everlasting_ 's commanders here?"

It only took her best friend a second to compose herself before giving a reply. "Yes sir. I was just heading to my room to retrieve something but it seems that would no longer be necessary." the captain of the _Everlasting_ replied. "This way, sir."

With Master Chief up front, Hazel slightly leaned to her and asked "Know anything?" Lucy shook her head, making Hazel slightly disappointed. "Damn…wonder what's up?"

"We'll soon find out, girl." Lucy replied as the _Everlasting_ 's command personnel began looking at Master Chief.

"Hello John, what brings you to our lovely getaway?" Dr. Catherine Halsey asked, a slight smile appearing on her old face. After her desertion during the Second Battle of Requiem and subsequent capture, the 'Mother of Spartans' was slated to for a death sentence for her treason until President Charet offered her a lower sentence of exile to Novus, allowing her brilliant mind to still be put to use AND receive a punishment for her crime.

Instead of answering, Master Chief brought out a hologram of a _Phoenix-class_ colony ship. "What do you know of the _Spirit of Fire_?"

Lucy stifled a gasp but failed. Who wouldn't – the very ship her father was assigned to is suddenly brought up for discussion in a very direct manner. A million thoughts raced through the inside of her head, trying to come up with a reason to why the Spartan Admiral was suddenly talking about this. Unfortunately for her, all the reasons she could think of all resulted in one terrifying conclusion: they found the ship.

As much as she dared hope that was true, she was afraid. Lucy had seen the report detailing why the _Spirit_ was undoubtedly lost with her mother. The UNISOD analyst who found the report showed them the statistical data alongside all evidences pointing that the _Spirit_ pursued an unidentified CPV-class heavy destroyer was most likely destroyed.

The report concluded that there was less than 7.44% chance that the _Spirit_ actually survived any engagement against said destroyer and even if they did, they were in lost territory with no chance of rescue. Thus, the Office of Naval Intelligence, UNISOD's predecessor, switched the status of the _Spirit of Fire_ from 'missing' to 'lost with all hands'.

And yet, Master Chief was here, asking her of what she _fucking_ knows about the very ship her father, Sergeant John Forge, was serving upon on. Of course she knows: she could tell the Spartan the number of personnel that had served onboard the ship prior to its disappearance, the capacity the ship it could hold, and hell, she could even tell the ship's service number without missing a beat.

"It was the ship my father…" Hazel replied, her voice slightly wavering as she placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder. "I mean, our fathers, had served upon: _Spirit_ 's Captain James George Cutter, service number 01730-58392-JC, and Marine Sergeant John Forge, service number 63292-94758-JF. Both served on the Harvest Campaign as well as the Defense of Acadia before disappearing when the ship chase an unidentified Covenant heavy destroyer."

"ONI later changed its status from 'missing' to 'lost with all hands' after one of its analyst, codenamed SURGEON, reported that the _Spirit_ had a 91.21% chance of engaging the heavy destroy but concluded that it only had 7.44% chance of actually surviving the encounter." Lucy added, steeling her nerves. "Even if it did survive, they would have probably be badly damaged to the point of abandoning the ship with no chance of rescue."

"I apologize for bringing up unpleasant memories, Admiral, Commander." Master Chief apologized, and from what Lucy could see from his facial expression, he meant it. "However, the reason I needed to bring up the _Spirit_ was because one of UNISOD's probes here in Novus picked up an old UNSC signal used by vessels prior to the Human-Covenant War – specifically the one used by the _Spirit_."

Hazel gave a gasp while Lucy opted for opening her mouth. "Are you saying…" the Spartan-IV began, afraid to finish her sentence.

"That UNSC has most likely found the _Spirit of Fire_. Whether or not the ship is functional will determine if there are survivors." Dr. Halsey finished, already accessing the report. "Does UNISOD have a specific position of the ship?"

Master Chief shook his head. "There's a heavy interference preventing our probes from getting its exact location but UNISOD has managed to get a general location of it." replied the Spartan-II, showcasing a massive gridded galaxy similar to the Milky Way, Grid Q-R 16 being highlighted.

"Sir, with all due respect," Lucy began. "Why must you be the one to inform us of this situation? Wouldn't Admiral Lansky be sufficient enough to inform us?"

"True, John." Dr. Halsey added, giving him a look. "Why did you have to come here personally?"

Master Chief didn't answer as he typed some commands on to the holotable, bringing up three Spartan-IIs. "Another reason in why I have to be here is because of Spartan Red Team: Jerome-092, Alice-130, and Douglas-042. They were last seen going aboard the _Spirit_ just before it disappeared. These three, are in fact, the last officially missing Spartan-IIs."

 _So that's why Master Chief is here…_ Lucy thought. After the UNSC was reorganized, UNISOD thought it would be beneficial that the records of the Spartan-IIs were officially published, revealing that all Spartans believed to be Missing-In-Action were actually already dead. ONI had prevented revealing this information during the war as it might strike a blow to the already low morale UNSC had. This resulted in all branches (prior to the separation of the Spartans from the Navy) gaining a new level of respect to the IIs (even resulting in the ODSTs finally burying the hatchet with the Spartans).

"Dear god…" Dr. Halsey murmured out loud. "Ironic isn't it, John?"

"True, they were the only missing Spartan-IIs we ever had." Master Chief replied, a ghost of a smile on his face

"So _Everlasting_ 's going on a rescue mission?" asked Colonel Cala Sultan, the _Everlasting_ 's Marine Corps commander. "Not just the _Spirit_ but this Spartan Red Team as well?"

"To put it lightly, yes." Master Chief replied to the complete shock of everyone as he handed out data pads. "HIGHCOM just approved _Operation: Star Trek_ with two main goals: locate and possibly rescue the crew of the _UNSC Spirit of Fire_ and initiate First Contact with the Novus galaxy's inhabitants. To simply put it, UEG has order ordered you, Captain Hazel M. Cutter, to boldly go where no one has gone before."

Silenced reigned over the entire bridge has they heard Master Chief words, its officers and technicians trying to comprehend the enormous duty placed upon them. "I'm not sure if I should be happy that we get to be the first people to step on new worlds," Cala began, looking as if she had won the lottery before being slapped by someone on the face. "Or be sad that HIGHCOM had to rip off a famous TV show."

Master Chief just shrugged has everyone gave nervous chuckles. "Their words, not mine – I'm just a messenger." he confessed before adopting a more serious look. "Regardless, _Everlasting_ has been tasked to begin exploration of Novus at the earliest time possible. Captain Cutter, HIGHCOM has hereby appoints you as the Milky Way Galaxy's main representative to the inhabitants of this galaxy. Your actions will be the actions of both the UEG and the CAS. Any treaties, actions, and wars that you will initiate will be your responsibilities, am I clear?"

Hazel, in Lucy's opinion, seemed to straighten up a bit. "Clear as crystal, sir. The UEG and the CAS can count on me." She replied with a determined look on her face before becoming slightly concerned. "Question sir, why would the Coalition appoint me as a representative?"

Sighing, Master Chief pulled up a letter. "Officially, the Coalition announced that it is focusing on some 'grave internal matter'. Unofficially, they just want to rest from anything space faring and focus on building a peaceful society."

Lucy couldn't argue with that logic. Granted, the CAS was just around 10 years old but that isn't long enough for a nation to stabilize quickly. The UNSC was only lucky because not every planet it had was invaded and lost, so they had some back-up in case things went south.

"When will we begin our exploration, Admiral?" Hazel asked, bringing up _Everlasting_ 's manifest for reference. "Currently, our supplies can last us one year max if we leave now – but that's rationing everything."

"You'll begin your exploration around a week from now." Master Chief reassured, bringing up a list. "HIGHCOM decided you'll need a week tops to prepare for a three year deep space exploration mission. As this is a huge undertaking, I kindly suggest that you offer a week shore leave for your personnel to prepare them for the mission."

Colonel Jeffry Starr, the _Everlasting_ 's Air Force commander, whistled. "Damn…three years? How are we going to contact HIGHCOM whenever we make contact with a new species?"

"Those two weeks will be use to prepare the SOPs for first contact, as well as other matters. Any other questions?" Master Chief asked, seeing none. "Very well, you're dismissed."

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"Damn…so we're doing a Star Trek then?" Abigail Shroud asked, sipping some cola in the cafeteria along with Lucy, getting a laugh from the Spartan Commander.

"That's putting lightly!" Lucy laughed as she ate some chips they got from the snack machine. "Hell, Cala looked like someone slapped her in the face when Master Chief said the Star Trek line."

Abigail Shroud chuckled, something Lucy always considered as one of the defining traits why she fell in love with the _Everlasting_ 's maintenance engineer. They've been going strong now for nearly two years, six months after Lucy finally went out of the closet, per se.

It had been a weird affair when she came out, actually – it was during the a family reunion when she both announced her position as _Everlasting_ 's Spartan Commander and that she was a lesbian. When her family's conservative side was about to denounce her, her mother just looked at her and raised her hands in the air and said "Finally!" before admonishing her relatives for being rude.

"Hey, you alright?" Abigail suddenly asked, jarring Lucy from her nostalgia. "You suddenly spaced out for a moment."

"Oh, you know, just wonder how 'Abigail Forge' sounds like." Lucy replied, smirking at Abigail's blush. It was one of the points that Lucy could tease her GF about and getting that cute blush out of her. "Hey Hazel!"

"At ease, Gail, no need to salute." Hazel replied lazily as she walked in, preventing Abigail from saluting. "Rough day huh, Lucy?"

Scoffing, Lucy pointed at the captain. "You're rough day is just about to begin. We'll be in space for three years, and nobody to talk to except for me, Abigail, and the crew, huh?"

Hazel rolled her eyes. "I need a drink. Shame though, I was about to get ready for James' fifth birthday three weeks from now."

Abigail patted her back. "No need to be sad, you could just always give your gift now. Anyhow, I've got to go – shift starts in 30 minutes. You know how boss is when people are late."

Both O-6 personnel chuckled at that comment. Sturgis Preston has always been a hard ass whenever people were late for work. Giving her girl a peck in the cheeks, Lucy asked "You'll be here for dinner?"

"Probably, see you later!"

Leaving the two, Hazel's shoulder's sagged and rubbed her face awake. "God…logistics is a nightmare. When I was told the supplies are meant for a three-year deep space engagement, I was just expecting the supplies worth three years. Guess how much supplies we're given for this op, Em."

"Six?" she guessed, taking a sip.

"We have enough for ten years – 15 if we're to ration it." Hazel replied, getting a whistle from Lucy. "What the hell is HIGHCOM expecting out there?"

Having been at the briefing, Hazel knew that this was a really long (emphasis on long) op the _Everlasting_ was being sent to, but she never expected that much. The ship was actually brought closer to New Aurora's orbit just to ensure faster transfer of supplies. Hell, she even heard from the ship's scuttlebutt that they were planning on giving the ODST some new toys to play.

"Highly advance AI hell bent on enslaving any humanoid species?" offered Lucy with a smirk, getting a deadpanned look from Hazel, clearly unamused by her jokes.

"The point is," Hazel stressed, "HIGHCOM is making it look like we are heading off to recapture some planet from the Covies. It's as if they're expecting us to find and fight a war."

 _No surprises there._ Lucy thought dryly. Ever since the Human-Covenant war ended, HIGHCOM treated ever unknown artifact or planet as a dangerous object bent on destroying mankind. Now, they're in a completely uncharted territory (figuratively and literally), no wonder HIGHCOM (and UEG, to some extent) was this paranoid.

"'Zel, you are stressed." Lucy replied calmly, sipping her cola. "You're overthinking things. It's what, 1928 hours, Aurora Standard Time – when was the last time you slept?"

"2 hours ago…" Hazel replied as she looked through the data pad she had with her. "I just can't believe the amount of—"

The captain never got to finish her statement as the ship's klaxon's suddenly started blaring, jarring the two from their conversation before a lilac tinted woman dressed in a flowery gown appeared on their table. "Captain, New Aurora's outermost sensory satellites are reporting a strange object that appeared at the edge of the system."

"Inform Commander Lively that I'll be heading to the bridge then." Hazel replied, standing up. "Has command said anything?"

"Tac Com is now Alpha 3, fleet wide." the _Everlasting_ 's main AI complied as she gave a sweet smile before disappearing.

"So much for a break?" Lucy grunted as the two left the mess hall, running towards the elevator. Everywhere they went, ship personnel were running about – either to prep the ship or go to their stations. The two made it in time to catch a semi-filled lift, Hazel pulling rank just for the two of them to get on board.

Ten minutes later, Hazel and Lucy reached the bridge before the captain made her way to the central holotable. "Status report, Benson!"

"Sensors detected tachyonic particles breaking for a brief moment before it disappeared as soon as it appeared." the attendant replied. " _Everlasting_ 's at Alpha 3. Also, Commodore Perry is asking if the Strident's should be deployed."

Reading the tactical read out, Hazel shook her head. "Fleet's already on alert, so no need. However…Benson, are our birds ready for take-off?"

Benson nodded. "Colonel Stars just reported that all Sabre's are ready for take-off." the attendant replied before pressing a flashing screen on. "Ma'am, priority message from the President!"

"Put it through." Hazel's curt reply made Benson put the screen on, revealing President Charet looking over some papers, probably in the Aurora Command Center. "Ma'am president."

The stateswoman gave a smile. "Ah, Captain Cutter. I take it the fleet's ready?" Getting a nod, the President continued. "Good, I have a task for you, Captain."

The map of the Aurora System was put up on display. "As you've been told, a unidentified object was detected near the system's galactic north edge. However, we have yet to get a visual of the said object."

"You want the _Everlasting_ to check it, ma'am?" Hazel stated, blinking in surprise.

Charet smiled. "Yes Captain. As our official representative to the galaxy, I think this would be in our best interest that you check out this object."

"Right away, Ma'am President." Hazel responded.

"Godspeed then, Captain." the president offered. "Charet out."

The bridge was quiet as they processed the orders of President Charet. Breaking the silence, Hazel said "Lilac, open the ship wide comm."

"Done!" the lilac-colored AI replied instantaneously. "You're live, captain!"

"All _UNSC Everlasting_ personnel, this is your captain speaking." Hazel began, placing her hands on the holotable. "At 1928 hours, Aurora Sensory Array detected an unidentified object entering the system. HIGHCOM, already on high alert with the Presidential visit of President Ruth Charet, has elevated the status from Alpha 4 to 3 upon detection of the said object.

"As of right now, President Charet has order the _Everlasting_ to recon the said object. I will not beat around the bush, what we might discover may be just a meteor…or a new galactic civilization. Keep calm, everyone, and follow your orders. Captain Cutter out."

Letting out a sigh, Hazel turned to Lilac. "Are we ready for a slipspace jump?"

"Awaiting orders ma'am."

"Punch it."

Thanks to the advancement the advancements done after the Human-Covenant War, the latest line of UNSC vessels were now capable of doing near-precision slipspace jumps with only a one percent margin error – allowing its vessels to be capable of arriving at their target destination instead of arriving only at the general area the vessels wanted to appear. However, this made UNSC lose its ability to surprise its enemy with its old slipspace drives.

Not only that, travel time was also near instantaneous when traveling through slipspace. Instead of the usual 2.66 light-years per day of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engines, the Macedon Mark XI series (an overhauled version of the Slipspace Drive and a notch higher than what _Infinity_ uses) were now capable of travelling at a speed of 76 light years per hour.

"No visuals ma'am!" a technician immediately reported upon their exit from slipspace. "Aurora Command indicated that this was the nearest—"

"Gun Deck Five has a visual captain!" cut another technician as he frantically manipulated his controls. "Bringing image up…now!"

"Is that a flying hammer?" Lucy suddenly blurted, voicing out what everyone was thinking. A long vessel that looked like a large sledgehammer with rockets at its lower half. Along the middle, it widened enough to allow pod-like appendages with cannons to stick on the sides, two turrets on the top and bottom part near the hammer-shaped cockpit, and one satellite dish on the dorsal side on the vessel near the rockets.

"Don't care. Lilac, can you contact it?" Hazel announced, looking at the video feed that popped alongside it.

"I'm trying captain," Lilac replied, staring intensely at the image. "All frequencies are being checked out but I'm not detecting anything. What I am detecting are really old – and I mean _old_ old – baseline UNSC frequencies."

"Try checking if they match any of the pre-2552 UNSC frequencies." Lucy ordered, coming near the holotable. "May be that's why we can't contact them."

"Ma'am, visual cam is reporting a long appendage coming out of the vessel…holy hell, is that what I think I see?" the comms officer asked loudly.

"What is it Reilly?" Hazel asked, brows furrowed.

Instead of answering, Reilly flipped a switch replacing the 3D image of the vessel into a video feed of—

"That's a Spartan!" cried Lucy immediately upon seeing the being coming towards the gun. "Mjolnir Mark IV Powered Assault Armor, predecessor of _any_ Spartan armor. That means…"

"…this is one of the lost Spartans we're tasked to find." Hazel finished, eyes widening. "I want an EVA team out there now!"

Lucy, however, had other plans. Having been on her Warrior-variant Mjolnir armor with a M805X Thruster Pack the entire time, she put on her helmet and sprinted towards one of the glass – one void of anyone in danger of being sucked out if it was ever breached. "Fasten your seatbelts boys and girls!" Lucy shouted, causing everyone to look at her. "Breaching!"

Firing her sidearm, the glass weakened enough for her to activate her thrusters and break it. Grabbing the ledge as she was sucked out, Lucy manage to swing her way up to the _Everlasting_ 's hull. As soon as she planted her feet on the hull, the blast shields came up closed the hole she created.

"Dammit Lu, what the hell was that?" Hazel angrily asked via the comms. "The EVA team could have handled the talking."

Scoffing as she moved up the hull, Lucy replied "That'll take too long, Zel. My way's faster than yours – besides, are you willing to let a complete unidentified vessel hover above the ship?"

Cutting the link, Lucy activated her thrusters and made her way towards the last known position of the Spartan-II. "Lilac, give me a sitrep."

"Captain's pissed, if that's what you're asking." the AI replied, though there was humor in her voice. "But she agrees with you. Oh, by the way, how are you going to talk to the Spartan? I know the Fours were taught the secret sign language of the Spartan-IIs but you could also use – oh boy, _what_ do we have here…"

Reaching the top of the ship, Lucy turned towards the direction of the hammer-like ship. "Tell me you managed to contact the hammer ship, Lilac. You're ONI right?"

Scoffing, the AI replied "It's more of a mallet-like ship, Commander. Anyway, remember when I told you the baseline frequency uses old UNSC frequencies? The reason I couldn't access them is _because_ the UNSC signal is laced with an unknown set of frequency – meaning whatever this signal is, it's a mixture of UNSC and something _else_."

"Can you or can you not contact them, Lilac?" Hazel suddenly butted in. "I want options, not facts."

"Argh, you soldiers _really_ need to read up." Lilac countered, Lucy could already imagine her rolling her eyes. "Just because I'm an experimental ONI AI made just to analyze, decipher, and decode—"

"Just answer the question Lilac." Lucy cut, grinning as she made slowly made her way to the Spartan-II's position. "Can or can you not?"

"Not yet," Lilac replied in a frustrating manner just as Lucy came into full view of the ship. "Give me a day or two…but we don't have that luxury, right?"

As if sensing her, the Spartan turned to her with a BR55. She stopped a few feet away from the Spartan and signed _Friendly, don't shoot._

"You seeing this Captain?" Lucy asked as the Spartan just looked at her.

"Yup…does he get it?"

The Spartan stowed his weapon before signing _How did you know this signs?_

 _Part of basic S-IV training._ Lucy signed back. _So, who are you?_

The Spartan just stared at her, Lucy not knowing if the Spartan was shocked by there being Spartan-IVs or that she was asking who the Spartan was.

 _Classified_. The Spartan signed back, making Lucy blink.

Before she could reply, Admiral 117 popped up on her HUD. "Commander, Chief here. Sign back with _Oly Oly Oxen Free_. He'll know he's safe."

"Um…yes sir." Lucy replied, confused as to why she had to use a children's song as a reply, signing it immediately.

All of a sudden, the Spartan – a male one, if the admiral's word was to be considered – started to lax. _Follow me,_ he signed before make a leap towards the ship.

"That…that went well." Lucy said, surprised because of the quickness. "Orders?"

"Follow Sierra-092 to wherever he's going, commander." Admiral 117 replied curtly. "117 out."

"Well, let's hope dad's here then." Lucy muttered to herself before she followed the Spartan-II as he made his way to the protruding shaft where he came from. _Looks like an elevator,_ Lucy guessed as she jumped inside the shaft and the door closed, allowing the elevator to depressurize. "Well, will you look at that," Lucy said, turning on her armor's speaker, "I'm on board—"

Without warning, she was slammed against the walls – by the Spartan (92, according to the Admiral), no less. Upon instinct, she whipped out _Lucy Dos_ (a family heirloom from her father) and rested it on her attacker's neck…just as he had a pistol on her head.

"How did you know about that call sign?" 92 asked, his voice still clam yet threatening.

Biting down a snarky reply, she replied tensely. "Admiral John-117 ordered me to sign it."

Though the Spartan-IVs were given a water downed version of the treatment for the IIs and IIIs, Lucy knew she felt 92 _slightly_ clam down but still retained his alert posture. "How do you know his name?"

"Dammit Em," she heard Hazel say, realizing that the bridge (and Blue Command as well) were seeing this. "I told you we should have waited for the EVA team I was about to send!"

Ignoring her best friend's remarks, she answered "You've been gone for 30 years now – the Spartan-II program was declassified to honor the ones who died for humanity." Just then, the doors opened and started hearing voices. "If you let me go, I can bring you up to speed."

It was a tense minute but 92 eventually relented and let her go. Cracking her neck, she gave him a nod before entering a hold…before she stopped and blinked at the scene before her.

It was a cargo hold, that was for sure. The place could hold at least two Warthogs bumper to bumper, with space to spare for people to walk at the sides of the vehicles. Metal…boxes (they _did_ look like boxes) were stacked in an orderly fashioned, lined along the walls of the vessel she was currently in.

As for the occupants – all she could say was they were…interesting. A couple of people in unknown garment who looked at her with suspiciousness, two ODSTs grinning from ear to ear, a marine who looked like she was shocked and surprised by Lucy, a little boy looking at her in a very curious manner, a…weird-looking alien that looked like a cross between a duck, a horse, and a platypus, and a woman in a flamboyant red-with-black dress she looked like she was going to ComiCon.

"You seeing this Hazel?" she asked privately. The captain's 'uh-hu' didn't make her feel better.

"I suggest you proceed with caution, Commander." Lilac's voice suggested. "The one with the impressive hairdo with matching red-and-black dress looks like some ruler. From my analysis as well, I am 89% sure they have with something up their sleeves – literally."

 _I signed up to shoot and order people – not talk to people,_ Lucy thought before she decided to remove her helmet. _Lilac did say the hairdo lady was some sort of ruler._ "Greetings," she awkwardly began (she knew Hazel was getting a kick out of this) before saluting. "I am Commander Lucy Forge of the _UNSC Everlasting_. May I be the first to welcome you the United Earth Government-colonized Aurora System – unofficially though."

Lucy wanted to slam her head on the wall for the last part of her sentence when she heard the hairdo woman laugh. "Then," she said with a hint of mischievousness in her eyes, "I unofficially welcome you aboard, Commander Forge. I am Queen Amidala of the Royal House of Naboo and its people."

Taking off her helmet and clipping it to her waist, she gave a grin before saying "Thank you, your majesty."

"I must say, Commander" began the Queen, her voice with humor. "I wasn't expecting such a welcome. Captain Cutter said that UNSC greets its visitors in a more flamboyant manner."

"Wait, what?" Lucy blurted, confused to why Hazel was being mentioned.. "You've been in contact with Captain Cutter?"

Queen Amidala nodded, although unsure with her question. "We contacted the _Spirit_ before we headed for this system. My captain was advised to broadcast—"

"You're in contact with the _Spirit_?" If Lucy wasn't confused by now, she would have been shocked already. "Can I get to your comms station immediately? It's of utmost importance."

Although startled, the queen didn't waste time. "Sabé, please direct the Commander to the bridge." she said to the person beside her, wearing a dress-downed version of what the Queen wore. "Inform Captain Ric what the Commander needs."

It took them fifteen minutes to reach the brigde – and the moment she was directed to the comms station, Lucy just placed her armored hand on the console. "Showtime, Lilac!"

Another hidden beauty of the GEN2 armor was the AI armor-to-hardware transfer (AHT) system. Simply put it, instead of having to remove an AI data crystal chip from the armor and inputting into an electronic hardware, the AHT system allowed the AI to simply transfer himself or herself (or a portion of it) into the electronic system the armor was close to – allowing quick in-and-out in electronic warfare.

Few seconds later, Lucy heard Lilac say "My word, the system's incredible!"

"Lilac," Lucy butted in, chucking at the bewildered looks of the bridge crew as Lilac stood at the holotable on the bridge's center. "Directly line to the _Everlasting_ , please?"

"That's the thing, Lucy!" Lilac replied as her 'welcome party' entered the bridge. "I can't read it!"

"You said it was incredible!"

"It is because they're not using English." another voice answered. Lucy frowned before seeing another AI appear on the holotable where Lilac was. "Here's the translation software I manage to cook up. I'm Abby by the way, _Mjolnir_ 's ship AI."

Lilac then suddenly looked at the new comer before saying "You are definitely _not_ a ship AI."

"What? Lilac, we got no time—" Lucy ordered before being cut.

"She's not!" Lilac shot back, staring at the new AI with fascination. "It's as if The Terminator and Sarah Conner had sex and she's the—"

"Lilac. Direct line to the _Everlasting_ now." Lucy ordered, her voice brokering no argument. "They have contact with the _Spirit_ , command needs to know."

The introduction turned out to be fairly short between the two sides – though Lucy knew Hazel was itching to get a line to her father. Queen Amidala informed that the _Spirit_ was very much alive and well and had promised to help them out in exchange for their help. Other than that, a data exchange was initiated as well as the startling information that Novus was actually inhabited by a galactic wide government.

Hazel decided to let a Pelican guide them back on board to discuss further items and meet as well with the UEG President. In exchange, Queen Amidala's concerns will be discussed in the formal negotiations between Naboo and UEG – as well as help contact the _Spirit_ (turns out, because of two different systems, contact was fairly limited to text and pre-recorded messages – unless it was supported by a huge power system and comm buoy).

"See you aboard, your majesty." Hazel replied with a smile. "Hazel out."

As the video link was cut, Queen Amidala turned to her military adviser (a Captain Panaka, Lucy thought she heard) and said "That went well, did it not Panaka?"

The dark-skinned man nodded. "I was actually expecting a somewhat more hostile response though." He replied truthfully, his comment directed at Lucy.

The Spartan-IV just shrugged. "Well, if you guys showed up a few days earlier, we might have. Just a few hours ago though, the _Everlasting_ was tasked to explore this galaxy – we might have met under your terms if that was the case."

"I'm guessing ONI's on board on this as well?" Dr. Andres asked. Lucy remembered reading that the _Spirit_ picked Dr. Ellen Andres up to check some Forerunner ruins on Harvest. ONI declassified documents later showed they kidnapped her and forced her to go to Harvest.

"Actually, ONI's gone – UNSC reorganized itself a few years after the war." the Spartan-IV commander replied, shrugging. "They're now called the United Nations Intelligence and Special Operations Division – UNISOD for short. Same spookiness, less the secrets – if you get what I mean."

"ONI was your Intelligence gathering organization, was it not?" Queen Amidala asked, "Captain Cutter explained to me about them before we left the _Spirit_."

"They're not just our intelligence gathering organization – they're UNSC's black ops during the war." Lucy said before shuddering. "You would not believe the ton of skeletons they have when things got declassified after the reorganization – mostly how the Spartan-IIs and -IIIs were recruited and trained."

Predictably, Lucy saw Jerome straighten up. "They declassified it?" he asked with a nearly undetectable hint of surprise (she was a IV after all – though she would have not noticed it if she wasn't paying attention to him).

She nodded. "Most of ONI's dirty laundry was aired and available for public viewing. I would expect an apology from President Charet later for your kidnapping, Dr. Anders. Not sure if your mother would be apologetic, though."

Suffice to say, the doctor was surprised. "Wait, you mean my mother was the reason I was kidnapped for the Harvest Excavation?" she asked incredulously. "I thought it was Halsey!"

"Doc actually wanted you back with her in Reach, Dr. Anders. She needed all the help she could get to decipher the Covenant tech and needed all available scientist she could get her hands on." Lucy explained as she leaned against the wall. Discretely, she saw Lilac and Abby (the AI-that-wasn't-an-AI) staring at each other (she would bet they were having an electronic conversation). "Wanting to finish quickly, she requested for your retrieval to ONI – only to find out that you were sent to the frontlines by your mother."

Spartan 92 coughed, get her attention. "When you say most, do you mean the entire content of the SPARTAN-II project?"

"From their earliest black ops to the potential projects they had in mind, Spartan." Lucy replied, shuddering. She remembered reading the released documents the day after she was approved to join the SPARTAN-IV. "We're talking about internal assassination to external destabilization ops – the whole nine yards, both before and after the war. Then we have your super-soldier projects – Project: ORION and the SPARTAN Project II and III."

Seeing the curious (and surprised) looks of their hosts' face, however, made Lucy stop. While it was available to read, UNSC made sure that the information released was general and selective when it was first made public. There was no telling how the public would react to the dirtiest things ONI did before and during the war – and the Nubians would probably be scared shit if they found out. Besides, the sensitive info on the ORION and SPARTAN Projects were kept redacted to both protect the SPARTANs and give them a chance to rejoin society.

Thankfully, the helmsman announced the arrival of the pelican, allowing the attention to be diverted from the _Spirit_ to the pelican guiding the _Mjolnir_. "Lilac, get me a line to 92, will you?" Lucy ordered as she slipped on her helmet as everyone headed for the cargo bay (turns out, the tube was a quick entry/exit point). Rather than replying, Lilac winked green, signaling the connection was made. "Spartan, this is Forge. To answer your question, the public got a general overview of what the IIs and IIIs went through but not the whole picture – the kidnapping part is totally classified."

"Thank you." a curt reply was given before 92 asked "Are you related to a Sergeant John Forge?"

"Well, shit." Lucy cursed, thankfully nobody heard it since she was helmeted. If a Spartan-II knew her father, then something might have happened to him – not that it was unimaginable, her father could piss off and impress the brass in any way. "Yes…yes he was." she answered slowly, mentally preparing herself. "Is…is he still there?"

"Our makeshift bomb was damaged on the way to its destination. I offered to blow it up but Sergeant Forge ordered me back." 92 replied softly, as if he regretted not being able to help him. "Your father was the best soldier I've worked with…and it was an honor to serve with him."

Lucy knew – deep down – that she was ready to accept that her father was already dead. However, hearing it from the man who knew and saw her father during his last moments…well, it hit her pretty hard. "Th…thanks, 92. At least my drama's done, finally knowing that dad's…dad's well beyond the veil." Lucy said softly, taking deep breath to calm herself before chuckling. "Both mom and I accepted the fact that dad was dead already but…I think both of us were subconsciously in denial that he was dead."

"He would have made a fine Spartan II." 92 said as the two followed Queen Amidala to the cargo hold. "And I was proud to have worked with him during his last few moments."

"Heh, I think he was also proud too." Lucy added, chuckling. "It's not every day a lowly marine gets to work a Spartan, right?"

"We are now landing in the _UNSC Everlasting_. Thank you for flying _Mjolnir Airlines_. We hope you have an enjoyable stay in UEG space!" Abby's cheerful voice announced as the ship landed. "Please exit in an orderly fashion."

"I doubt that, Trooper here looks like he's a kid outside a candy store." Lucy joked, trying to lighten the mood. The trooper in question (he had his helmet off) gave her an exasperated look.

"Hey, when you've slept for over 30 years, forced to go on an protection mission," the trooper countered, still grinning. "And then see a big ass vessel that looks like could toe to toe with a Covie battlecruiser, you'll act like me ma'am!"

Lucy just chuckled as the ramp lowered. " _Everlasting_ ain't the only new toy UEG has – wait 'til you see the upgraded ODST armor."

Lucy just grinned as the two troopers mouth dropped before following the Queen of Naboo go down the ramp, whistling as she saw the welcome committee.

Hazel stood in front, wearing the black navy dress uniform with a black peaked cap on her fiery red hair that bore the officer crest on it. Standing straight on her right was Master Chief in his GEN2 MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor with his helmet off, gleaming his trademark colors and design from the Human-Covenant War. On her left, Colonel Cala was in her Marine Dress Uniform: double-breasted white jacket with gold-colored buttons, and white trousers, her rank displayed on epaulets on her shoulder.

The moment Queen Amidala stepped off the ramp, the five marines (decked out in their black-and-grey armor) standing on each side of the path towards Hazel snapped to a salute. Lucy noted with amusement that the Queen was only slightly shocked by the salute before she headed towards the ranking officers.

"Your highness," Hazel began as she the Queen stopped in front of her, offering her hand towards the monarch. "I am Captain Hazel M. Cutter and I welcome you aboard the _UNSC Everlasting_. To my right is Admiral John-117, Admiral of the entire Spartan Company. On my left is Colonel Cala A. Sultan, commander of the Marine Corps on board."

Queen Amidala gave a smile. "Thank you for your hospitality, Captain Cutter. I must say, this is quite similar how I was received on board the _Spirit of Fire._ " the Queen said, before remembering something. "May I also present to you Sergeant Clive Lars, head of the _Spirit_ 's Fireteam assigned to look for you, per se."

Right on cue, the trooper she joked on took a step forward and crisply saluted Hazel. "Sergeant Clive D. Lars, reporting for duty ma'am." he said before grinning. "Glad to be back in UNSC-held territory ma'am."

Hazel chuckled before she replied "Aren't well all. I take the _Spirit_ is still in top condition?"

"Ready to rain down hell in any Covies that dare oppose UNSC, Captain." Lars announced, grinning like mad. "After 30 years in cyro, every one's itching for to give the Spilt Lips a piece of their mind."

"Hold your horse, Sergeant – a lot has happened in 30 years. Colonel, I want you to get a debrief from the Sergeant on what happened after they left." Hazel ordered dark skinned Marine before turning to Lucy. "Commander Forge, kindly escort our guest to the Center for some refreshments – if that's alright with you, milady?"

Amidala nodded in agreement, smiling. "I believe so, it will give my crew a chance to interact with you crew members – Force knows we had to leave the _Spirit_ immediately as we were needed elsewhere."

Accepting the line of thinking, Hazel lead the Queen towards the rift (followed by her security captain and the bearded robed guy) while Cala dismissed her marines. Turning to her guests, Lucy took off her helmet and flashed them a grin. "Looks like you guys are in for a treat! We've just resupplied recently and I bet we got some tasty UEG-certified party food! Hey Cala, what's with the Center?"

Cala just shrugged as she came near her. "Last I heard, the eggheads and the marines rigged up some info booth there for the guests. Ashley, you, Ren, and Price accompany our guests." she ordered before turning towards Lars. " _Spirit_ personnel, follow me – we've got debrief you after your beauty sleep. Besides, HIGHCOM wants to know what happened after Acadia."

"Colonel," Master Chief began, having been silent throughout the exchange. "I'll like to accompany you as well. I can help with the debrief as well."

Cala nodded before saying good bye to Lucy, Sergeant Lars and his fireteam following her. "Alright, people of Naboo, follow my and experience the first ever Milky Way-Novus cultural exchange!" Lucy exclaimed cheerfully, pumping her fist in the air.

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

"Damn…" Etain Gauntest, a brown haired Nubian engineer, exclaimed in wonder as the Nubian entourage drove pass different docking bays of the _Everlasting._ "I knew the _Spirit_ was big but…how long is this again?"

"Nearly five and half klick long ma'am!" Corporal Ashely Williams replied from the driver's seat of the. Lucy, who was behind the driver's seat, just chuckled at the awed faces of their guest as they saw different aircrafts and vehicles the UNSC used. "Trust me, you may be shocked now but wait until you see the CAS vessels!"

Since the Nubians wanted a small tour, Lucy and the marines decided to take the warthogs to give them a sightseeing tour of the place. Dividing the group, Lucy ordered three M831 Troop Transport Warthog to ferry them to the Dock 7 Cafeteria (Center, as everyone called it since it was literally at the center of the ship and boasted the biggest cafeteria on board) with the three marines acting as drivers.

"CAS?" Abby asked, her tiny hologram being projected from the 'astromech' R2-D2. When Abby introduced herself as an 'UNSC AI Clone from Serina – don't ask how that happened', Lucy just raised an eyebrow before shrugging – she may be a commander but some things were just above her salary.

"Coalition of Allied Species – CAS for short." Lucy supplied as they passed by a M510 Mammoth under repair, causing the hog's occupants to gasp in surprise. "They're made up of the former Covenant species: Shangheili, Unggoys, and Kig-Yars, among others."

R2 then made a series of beeps and whistles. "R2's asking whether they're the 'elites' and 'grunts' mentioned in the data packet Serina gave them." Abby translated, looking at Lucy.

Lucy nodded while Ashely answered from her seat. "Yup! Turns out, the Covenant religion was built up on lies – so a civil war broke out among the species when it was discovered. The elites and majority of them sided with us just as Earth was being invaded. One thing lead to another and boom – war's over, time to rebuild."

"We'll probably update the data—" Lucy began but was cut off by a large _boom_ above her. Quickly looking up, she saw a large container falling towards them. The Spartan Commander was about to shout at the driver when the container suddenly stopped mid-air before slowly descending down on the side, as if someone was controlling it.

Jumping off the hog, Lucy quickly ran to the technicians at the side (also looking shocked). "Hey, what the hell happened?" she asked angrily. "Someone could have been killed!"

"I – uh, sorry Commander!" the poor technician replied, cowering behind his datapad. "I don't know what happened!"

Lucy just growled before pinching her nose. "Well, check it out! Be thankful that nothing happened." she reprimanded the technician before looking behind her. "What did stop that, anyway?"

"That'll be me, commander!" the sandy haired monk (Obi-Wan, if Lucy recalled correctly) shouted from the shotgun of the hog, waving at her.

Dismissing the terrified technician (after ordering the area to start inspecting the equipment), Lucy made her way back to the hog as she clambered back on. "Mind telling us what that was?"

"That's the Force, commander." Abby replied as the entourage continued on, though she sounded unsure how to explain it properly. "It's…some sort of telekinesis, I guess, that's native to Novus' inhabitants. People like Obi-Wan can us to a greater effect"

"It's an energy field created by all living things - it surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together." Obi-Wan elaborated further as they passed by some Mantis walkers. "Well, that's the basic version – I believe it would be best if the Jedi Temple provide you a more in depth version of my explanation."

"There'll be a lot of data exchanges, that's for sure!" Abby remarked, drawing a laugh from everyone onboard.

"Y'know," Ashely suddenly asked, "one thing I don't get is why we have the same language? I mean, what are the chances that two humanoid species have the language?"

"It's not necessarily similar – the galaxy has different languages from different races in it." one of the handmaidens replied. "The Queen told me that she had to teach Abby Aurebesh because of she had a hard time deciphering the _Mjolnir_ 's computer."

"That's true, Sabé." Abby replied just as they neared the D7. "I gave Lilac a copy of Aurebesh so UEG can have a translation system up and running soon."

"Eh, I say we just won the cosmic lottery that made everyone speak the same language." Lucy inputted, getting a laugh from the people seated. "I mean, it's astronomically low for such a thing to happen right?"

Once Ashely announced their arrival, Lucy helped R2 get down while the others jumped off. Looking at the other warthogs being disembarked, Lucy noted that Price and the Nubian pilot (Ric Olié) conversing while one of the security officers was having a debate with Ren.

"It's impressive, I'll say that." Sabé said as she walked towards the Spartan, awe in her voice. "I haven't seen anything militaristic except those holopics about the Galactic Civil War three thousand years ago."

Lucy just smiled as she guided the delegation into the Center before whistling in what she saw. She had to admit, the eggheads and the jarheads did a damn pretty good job of transforming the Center into a cultural booth – monitors lined up the walls showing different pictures of the various colonies of UEG, multiple information terminals rigged to a holo emitter (how they managed to do that, Lucy had no idea), and various delicacies of humanity (Lucy wouldn't be surprised if nearly all of it were being showcased here).

"Hey…is that a fried Moa I smell?" Ren suddenly asked as he sniffed the air. "Holy shit, they got Moa in here too?"

"Indeed corporal," a bald man in a lab coat said as he approached them, tucking in a data pad. "I'm Deputy Chief Scientist Albert Cartwright, head organizer of this event. Let me be the first to introduce you to the delicacies of the Milky Way Galaxy."

Lucy and Cartwright just stood back as the Nubians went about checking the impromptu cultural center. Naturally, the security officers started checking out the info terminal showing the different weapons of the UNSC, with Ren giving a running commentary as Ric Olié (along with his crewmates) listened to Price as he showed them UNSC aircraft. The handmaidens, on other hand, started tasting the food prepared from them (and judging from the looks on their faces, absolutely loved it) while Anakin (the only child in the group) and Obi-Wan were looking about the different pictures of UEG colonies lined up the wall, Anakin's mother reading the description silently as she followed the two.

"Good job, by the way." Lucy congratulated the deputy chief just as she spotted R2 heading towards Dr. Halsey (who, from the looks of it, wanted to be somewhere else). "I take it Doc didn't want to be here?"

Cartwright just laughed as he looked over to the mother of the Spartan-IIs, looking shocked as Abby appeared and began talking to her. "Trust me, we had to drag her out here with a promise of more lab time." he replied, chuckling. "That and a new journal, though I don't know why she wants one."

Lucy shrugged before she bid the scientist goodbye so she could check on her wards. Though the atmosphere was jolly, Lucy wanted to know how the Nubians were feeling as they checked out the offerings of UEG. Her first stop was with Ren and the security officers and from the looks of it, he was just wrapping things up.

"…and that about it." Ren said as he showed them a hologram of a MA5D.

"I take it you guys haven't created blasters?" one of the officers asked.

"You mean laser weaponry?" Lucy butted it, getting a nod from Ren as she searched for a particular weapon. She smirked as she found what she was looking for. "We have but it's heavy and considered as a heavy weapon. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the ever famous M6 Spartan Laser!"

"The only know direct-energy weapon UNSC has that's portable enough for the grunts like me to use." Ren humorously added, chuckling. "Then again, only ODSTs and Spartans like the Commander here are allowed to get it from the armory."

Lucy was about to retort about the M6's 'extraordinary' price when a she heard screeching tires outside the Center. Looking at the entrance, an out of breath Nubian came running inside waving a floppy disk-like device on his hand. "Captain, we just received a vid from the _Spirit_ just a minute ago!" the Nubian replied, gasping for air. "The Trade Federation found them five days ago!"

 **# # # # # # # # # #**

" _Queen Amidala, if you are receiving this, then I pray that you have managed to get to_ UNSC- _held territories_." Captain Cutter's hologram began as Lucy and the rest of the _Everlasting_ 's commanding officers (along with Queen Amidala and her advisors) watched on. " _The Trade Federation discovered our position when they started mining operations in the nearby systems of your sector. I managed to fool them of who we are but I doubt they fully believe it. As I record this, we are nearing Naboo and there's a whole ton of ships encircling it. I plan to scuttle the_ Spirit _the moment we're near enough to launch all spacefaring vehicles we got and land planetside._ "

Cutter stopped and massaged his temples. " _Serina just intercepted some high level chatter about executing the governing council quietly and replacing them with some puppets. I've already order Red Team to join up with Charlie Squad to rescue them while I find us a place to lay low and fight the moment I initiate the self-destruct button. I know I said there was really no guarantee that the UNSC will be able to help you but looks like I'm forcing HIGHCOM's hand in this one. I'll see you planet side then – Cutter out._ "

Silence settled over the bridge as everyone absorbed the messaged. "Well…shit." Colonel Starr said, summing it up.

"Got it in one, Jeff." Hazel said, snorting before she brought up Naboo. "Damn it dad…."

"If the Trade's planning to execute Governor Bibble and the rest of the Royal Advisory Council," Amidala began, worry on her face. "Then they're planning to legitimize their foothold on Naboo. We can't allow this!"

"We know, your highness," President Charet (communicating to them via holo) replied, trying to calm the Queen. "However, we don't know how many ships are surrounding Naboo. Right now, most of the ships are part of the Aurora Defense Fleet - it's only the _Everlasting_ we can spare to free a planet."

"But it's only one ship against the Trade Federation fleet." Panaka grimly noted, frowning. "We haven't even considered the droids on the ground."

"That…might not be an issue." Dr. Anders slowly began, getting everyone to look at her. She and Abby were called in as they were the only UNSC personnel to have enough technical knowledge Novus tech. "One of the things I found about the Trade Federation in the Jedi Achieves was that Neimoidian droids only have one control hub located in one of their Lucrehulk-class ships. Blow that up…"

"…and the droids drop." Abby finished as she appeared on the table, looking excited. "All we got to do find the control ship! It's like Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE except that main target's a ship and not a person. Avery and I managed to pull that off with only a canoe, some explosions, and a teddy bear when we hunted Molin Saal."

Everyone just looked at Abby with a bewildered expressions when Hazel suddenly said "That could work. Lilac, we have an UNISOD prowler docked to us, right?"

Lilac brought up an image of a _Winter_ -class light prowler on the table. "It's the _Normandy_ , captain, piloted by Lieutenants Jeffrey Monroe and Kaiden Alenko. They're here to drop off some UNISOD scientists and engineers for the upcoming expedition."

Hazel nodded before she looked to everyone. "Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE was the UNSC surgical strike missions to assassinate prominent Insurrectionist leaders across the colonies before the Human-Covenant War. Same idea, different targets," she explained before looking at Lucy, her violet eyes filled with determination. "And we're going to replicate it with some differences: I want a Spartan-IV fireteam inserted in Naboo to link up with the _Spirit_ , gather intel on Trade forces on and around Naboo, and get a fix on that Control Ship."

Leaning on the holotable, Hazel continued. "Lilac, tell the _Normandy_ to prep up for a infiltration mission and raise Tac Com to Alpha One. Navigation, I want a plot towards Naboo immediately but make sure it's just outside the system. Forge, prep your fireteam and load up, bring Sergeant Lars' crew as well. Tactical, I want MAC drives spun now and our PDS up and running." Hazel ordered, determination steeling her voice as the bridge went about to do her bidding. "Anders, Abby, I want all info about the Trade Federation vessels in – strength, weaknesses, anything that could give us an advantage!"

"We'll bring them home, Hazel!" Lucy shouted courageously as she made her way out of the bridge, yet dread filled her thoughts. _I just hope we don't bring home anymore body bags._

* * *

 **Up Next:**

 _ **ACT 1 | Part 8: The Spirit of Fire Burns Bright...**_

* * *

Character Visualization:

Jane Shepard (Mass Effect 3) as Captain Hazel Marie Cutter

Alexandra Daddario as Commander Lucy Orion Forge

Lily Collins as Lilac

Raquel (Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3) as Colonel Cala Sultan

Matt Horner (Starcraft 2) as Colonel Jeffery Starr

Nora Salter (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare) as Abigail Shroud

Ashley Williams (Mass Effect 3) as Corporal Ashley Williams

Lie Ren (RWBY) as Ren

John Price (Call of Duty) as Price

Cartwright (Starcraft 2) as Dr. Albert Carwright

* * *

 ** _Awesome Notes and Notifications:_**

 _I'M BACK READERS!_

 _Yeah, I know, you're probably clamoring "WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG!", "I THOUGHT THIS FIC WAS DEAD!", or other raves and rants._

 _I sincerely apologize for the delay because of academic matters (READ: Undergrad Research Paper) and a severe case of Writer's Block. I only got to finish this chapter because I was inspired with the gameplays of the SWTOR Knights of the Fallen Empire and its sequel (I actually plan on incorporating elements of that story here - what it'll be will be a super surprise)._

 _Anyway, I wanted you guys to know that there were another set of changes to the previous chapter - nothing major but enough to explain plot holes that I felt needed to be covered up in a lore friendly way._

 _Now, on to other matters: I take it you noticed the hyperspace travel time I've added here. Since the cannon doesn't really explain how it works (and Legends only added some details), I had to use this resource to actually make things work:_ _Hyperspace_Travel_ at the Star War Chronicles website. As for the UNSC slipspace drive, I'm leaving it as such - it's messy and annoying that I'm not going to edit it unless you can give me a good reason to change it._

 _As for the next chapter, I haven't started it yet but I'll probably have the skeleton of it by Mid May to early June. Take note that I'm actually nearing my graduation so I have to focus more on my studies and not here if I want to get the job I really want (as long as it focuses on creating and sustaining peace and history, I'm fine with that). Earliest date I can give you for the publishing of the next chapter will be around Late July to Mid August - sorry about that!_

 _Hope you enjoy this new chapter and drop a review so I know what to improve on, get some ideas, or what nots!_

 _PS: Special thanks to Guest Q, Species Unknown, and Lt._ _Darkhound for providing OCs. I know this wasn't what you offered but I had to edit them to suit my preferences. Sorry about that! Also, I would like to thank GunnyStacker for giving me an idea to frame my characters (check out his story guys:_ **Battlestar Galactica: The Guiding Fire** _is a cool story to read)!_


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